Analytics based investing

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I am new to the real estate investing world (unless you count my over-leveraged primary residence that has been a mediocre rental since I moved out of state 5 years ago). I came across BP a couple of months ago and have been reading the blogs, forums and have listened to most of the podcasts. I am amazed at this community who will openly share their knowledge with others. So, thank you to everyone who takes time away from their business and family to share their knowledge with us.

I come from an analytics background, so it is how I think about things. As I learn more about real estate, my thoughts continually go back to the analytics behind various investments and geographic areas. I am thinking back to podcast 1 when Marty Boardman said that he and J Scott looked at Milwaukee flipping because of the 51% price difference in retail and distressed properties. Looking at buy/hold, we talk about about the 2% rule (or said another way, price to rent ratios).

So, are there sources for comparing things like distressed vs. retail pricing, or price to rent ratios, across geographic markets? Certainly there is a better way than looking at individual sales and individual rents to determine this information?

Thank you for any direction you all can give.