Signals of demand in the rental market
Interest in finding a new rental home is distinctly seasonal, with periods of high and low interest coinciding with holidays and other events.
- We analysed search terms put into Google over the past five years and found that the query ‘flats to rent near me’ has produced a distinct pattern, revealing the times of the year when people are most likely to be considering a move.
- More importantly, keeping watch on this search term could be a valuable early signal of how much demand to expect because it peaks consistently in advance of new leasing activity.
- By far the most active time for prospective new renters to be searching is the New Year holiday with a second peak in the period between Easter and the summer break. Interest falls to its lowest level just before Christmas and during the summer – when presumably other distractions take precedence. Source: #Dataloft, Google, search average over last five years