How to tell if a renter's market is oversaturated?

[Hans M.]

Hi all,

New to BP and looking to make my first investment! 

My questions is, how do you tell if the market in which you're looking to invest is oversaturated with rentals?

I'm looking in a small college town, and I see a LOT of apartments currently for rent—in January! Seeing that it's halfway through the school year, I'm taking this as a negative sign that the market is oversaturated. Would that be a fair assumption?

How do you go about addressing this question of market-saturation for yourself? 

Thanks!