Rental Housing Spot Markets: How Online Information Exchanges Can Supplement Transacted-Rents Data

Abstract: Conventional U.S. rental housing data sources like the American Community Survey and American Housing Survey primarily capture transacted market data, reflecting existing renters’ payments. However, they do not directly reflect spot market conditions—the asking rents for current homeseekers. This study contrasts governmental data with millions of contemporary rental listings, revealing significant disparities between reported and actual asking rents. Conventional data often underestimate current market conditions and affordability challenges, particularly in densely populated and expensive rental markets.