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.

Keywords: affordable housing, census data, craigslist, fair market rent, rental housing, technology

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Geoff Boeing is an assistant professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. His research focuses on urban technology platforms and what they can and cannot tell us about housing markets and transportation systems.

Jake Wegmann joined the Community and Regional Planning program at the University of Texas at Austin as an Assistant Professor in 2014. His research interests lie at the intersection of land use regulation, real estate development, and housing affordability with an emphasis on rapidly growing metropolitan areas in North America

Junfeng Jiao is an associate professor and Director of the Urban Information Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. His interests include urban informatics, smart cities, and transportation technology