Where do you get area research data from?

[Stephen Keighery]

I am wondering where people get their information for property market research. I am new to the USA and am looking for a market to invest in. I have purchased 6 single family homes in Australia in 3 different states and have a defined process for area research in Australia. The market is totally different over here and wondering how you guys identify the markets you want to invest in.

For reference in Australia I normally look at the following information (note we have some different terms and ways our markets work). 

• Population growth rate
• Vacancy Rate
• Demographic information (we have great census data breaks these into the following categories

Babies and pre-schoolers (0 to 4)

Primary schoolers (5 to 11)

Secondary schoolers (12 to 17)

Tertiary education and independence (18 to 24)

Young workforce (25 to 34)

Parents and homebuilders (35 to 49)

Older workers and pre-retirees (50 to 59)

Empty nesters and retirees (60 to 69)

Seniors (70 to 84)

Elderly aged (85 and over)

• 5 year price growth
• Rent growth
• Yield
• Household income quartiles and how this has changed over time
• % of dwellings that are single family, medium density and high density
• % of people that own home, have a mortgage or are renting
• % of people that are in social housing (low income)

I would normally gather the data at a state level, then start to drill down to cities in the states where I like and then to regions or suburbs. Australia is much smaller than the USA so a much easier process. Obviously when I identify the areas I like I get more micro on the details of the areas and start speaking to property managers, real estate agents and looking at local infrastructure etc. 

I am not trying to replicate this process as the market is very different. I am just trying to illustrate some of the data I have used in the past. I would love to hear where the BP community gets data from?

To be clear, I am not interested in what people think the next hot markets are, I want to know where you get the data from to show you where the next hot markets are. Thanks in advance for you input, it is really appreciated.