Properties Incorporated · Editorial
This is where we explain the data behind the market pages. Every article starts from a public source — Zillow, Redfin, the Census Bureau, or the Federal Reserve — and works toward a decision a buyer, seller, or investor actually has to make. No forecasts dressed as facts, no listings pitch, and no number without the period it covers.
The archive is organised into six topics and built to be read in an order. If you are new to housing data, the reading path below moves from the vocabulary of market metrics through financing, the rent-versus-buy calculation, and the purchase sequence itself. If you already know what you are looking for, the topic pages carry the full archive for each subject, and the market pages carry the live series for every state, city, and ZIP code we cover.
Six articles, in this order. They build on each other: the metrics come first because every later decision depends on reading them correctly, financing comes next because it sets your price range, and the transaction mechanics come last because they only matter once the first two are settled.
Start with the vocabulary. Median price, days on market, months of supply, and sale-to-list ratio each answer a different question — this explains which one to trust when they disagree.
16 min read
The single most predictive number in housing, and the one most reporting ignores. Months of supply moves before price does, which makes it the closest thing to an early warning.
11 min read
What actually sets your rate, why it is not the Federal Reserve directly, and how to compare loan estimates so that origination fees do not quietly erase a better headline rate.
15 min read
The full comparison — carrying costs, opportunity cost, and transaction costs on both ends — framed as a breakeven horizon rather than a yes-or-no verdict.
17 min read
The sequence from pre-approval through closing, with the number attached to each step so nothing arrives as a surprise at the settlement table.
18 min read
If you are buying to rent rather than to live, this is the underwriting discipline: which return metric answers which question, and which expense lines new investors leave out.
19 min read
These are the reference pieces — the ones we maintain rather than publish and forget. They run long on purpose, because the questions they answer do not decompose into a listicle. Each one is the parent article for its topic and links down into the shorter analysis pieces that sit underneath it.
Analyze FRED data, Fed policy signals, and expert forecasts to understand where mortgage rates are heading in 2026. Data-driven framework for buyers and homeowners.
Analysis of 24 US metros where home prices fell in 2025. Data from Redfin and Zillow shows regional patterns, root causes, and early recovery signals for 2026.
Most rent vs. buy calculators miss half the equation. Learn what they overlook and how to use the right calculator to make your decision.
Learn how months of supply predicts real estate prices. Understand the formula, what the numbers mean, and how to use this metric to read the housing market.
Compare 15 affordable cities for first-time home buyers. See median prices, monthly payments, job growth, and inventory. Find your market.
Our methodology for ranking cities, the top 10 markets ranked by affordability and fundamentals, emerging opportunities, and how to analyze markets yourself.
New pieces are added regularly. Recent coverage has concentrated on how to read local movement — days on market and negotiating power, price-to-rent by metro, seasonality versus genuine trend changes, and how to identify areas where prices are moving before the change is obvious in the median.
A 5-year mortgage rate forecast for Q4 2026 and beyond: what rising rates mean for homebuyer affordability, timing, and strategy.
Rising inflation is reshaping housing prices in 2026. See the data, regional shifts, and what buyers and investors should do now.
Austin's 2026 mid-year market is splitting by submarket. See the inventory, price, and rate data buyers, sellers, and investors need now.
Our mid-year real estate market trends report breaks down prices, rates, inventory, and rentals by region so you can act on real 2026 data.
2024 Midwest real estate market trends: metro-by-metro pricing, inventory, mortgage data, and rental cap rates for buyers and investors.
Discover which recession-proof real estate markets are drawing investors now, with job data, affordability ratios, and five emerging hubs to research.
Mid-year 2026 housing data by region: Northeast, Sun Belt, Midwest, West Coast, and Mountain West. See where prices, inventory, and demand are shifting.
Mid-year data reveals which emerging neighborhoods are truly appreciating vs. hyped. See the six metrics, a real case study, and a due-diligence checklist.
Weekly updates on prices, inventory, and trends. Free forever.
Six subjects, one home for each. A topic page carries the complete archive for that subject plus a long-form explanation of what the topic covers and which of our data surfaces it maps to.
Read the housing market the way analysts do. We break down inventory, months of supply, price trends, and the data signals that tell you where a market is actually heading — not where the headlines say it is.
Everything that happens between deciding to buy and getting the keys. Step-by-step guidance on pre-qualification, inspections, appraisals, closing costs, and writing an offer that wins without overpaying.
Treat real estate like the asset class it is. Cash-flow modeling, price-to-rent screening, house hacking, and a data-first framework for evaluating deals before you commit capital.
How financing actually works — and where it quietly costs you. Mortgage rates, discount points and buydowns, loan types, and the math behind every financing decision a buyer faces.
City-by-city and metro-level coverage. Where inventory is climbing, where prices are softening, and which local markets are worth watching — built on the same data behind our 30,000+ market pages.
Studies are longer than articles and built directly on the database rather than on a single argument. They are the pieces we expect to be cited, so each one publishes its method, its period, and its source alongside the ranking.
Redfin, Zillow, Fannie Mae, J.P. Morgan, NAR, and Realtor.com's 2026 home price and mortgage rate forecasts, compared side by side with dated sourcing.
The most affordable U.S. cities ranked by median sale price — and how far below the national median each one sells.
Three rules govern everything published here. First, every number carries its source and its period. A median sale price with no date attached is not evidence, and a series that has stopped refreshing has to say so — Redfin stopped publishing its public market trackers in June 2026, so any Redfin figure anywhere on this site is labelled as running through May 2026 and is never described as updating monthly.
Second, we describe markets, not the people in them. Coverage is limited to prices, supply, sales pace, income and cost data, and the published figures behind them. We do not characterise neighbourhoods by who lives there, and we do not rank places by anything other than data you can go check yourself.
Third, we separate what the data shows from what it implies. Where a conclusion depends on assumptions — an appreciation rate, a vacancy rate, a holding period — the assumption is stated and, wherever possible, handed to you as a calculator so you can change it. Analysis on this site is informational. It is not financial, investment, or real estate advice.
Read the full methodology for the classification rules, or the data sources page for what each series measures and how often it refreshes.
Every market figure on Properties Incorporated traces to a public source: Zillow's home value and observed rent series, Redfin's published sales history, the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey for demographics and income, the National Center for Education Statistics for schools, and the Federal Reserve Economic Data service for mortgage rates. We aggregate and label — we do not model or estimate. Each number is published with the period it covers, and the data sources page documents what each series measures and how often it refreshes.
It depends on the series, which is why we label every one. Zillow's home value, rent, inventory, and new listings series refresh monthly and are current through July 2026. Redfin stopped publishing its public market trackers in June 2026, so the latest Redfin period available anywhere is May 2026 and it will not refresh — where we show a Redfin figure, it is stamped as such. Articles carry a published date and, when revised, an updated date. An article is a point-in-time analysis; the live series always live on the market pages.
Properties Incorporated is founded and edited by Marc Henderson, a U.S. Navy veteran and long-time operator of data-driven web platforms. Articles are published under the site's editorial standards and every market claim is sourced. Nothing here is financial, investment, tax, or real estate advice — it is analysis of public data. Housing decisions are consequential and personal; consult a licensed real estate professional or financial advisor before acting on anything you read here.
Every article belongs to exactly one of six topics: Market Analysis, Buying Guide, Investment, Mortgage, Rental Market, and Local Markets. Each topic has its own page with the full archive for that subject. If you are new, follow the reading path at the top of this page — it runs from the metrics vocabulary through financing, the rent-versus-buy decision, and the purchase sequence, in the order the concepts build on each other.
Tell us the market you are watching and your timeline. We'll send the brief for that area — price direction, supply, and what to line up before you apply.