How to Use PropertyIQ Scores to Pick a Real Estate Market

Real estate investors face the same problem repeatedly: too many markets, too little framework. How do you compare Austin to Columbus to Rochester without spending hours pulling data from six different sources?

The PropertyIQ Score is designed to answer that question. Here is how to use it.

What the Score Measures

The PropertyIQ Score rates every U.S. metro, county, and ZIP on a 0-100 index, updated monthly. It integrates data from Zillow, Census, Realtor.com, and economic sources to capture:

• Supply and demand balance (how much inventory vs how much buying activity)
• Price momentum (are values rising, falling, or flat)
• Valuation relative to fundamentals (is the market overpriced compared to local incomes and rents)
• Economic strength (employment, income growth)

A score of 50 represents the state average for that geography type. Above 50: better than average. Below 50: worse than average.

Reading the Score in Context

Here is what current scores tell you, using real markets as examples (all as of February 28, 2026):

Score 99 — Rochester, NY: Extreme supply constraint. Homes selling above asking. Values up 8.2% year over year. Near-fair valuation. This is what a fully healthy market looks like in the data.

Score 88 — Cleveland, OH: Strong demand, very low price point ($241K listing), actually undervalued by 29% relative to fundamentals. A high-scoring market that has not attracted the attention — or the price inflation — of other strong markets.

Score 76 — Denver, CO: Strong supply fundamentals. Fast days on market (38 days). But 56% overvalued and Zillow projecting -1% near-term. The score reflects supply strength; the investor needs to weigh the valuation risk separately.

Score 52 — Indianapolis, IN: Middle of the pack. Affordable market (only 5.1% overvalued), strong employment (2.5% unemployment), but demand metrics are moderate and inventory is growing. Solid, not exceptional.

Score 26 — Nashville, TN: 53.8% overvalued. Demand score 11.4. 8,849 homes competing for buyers. The score reflects a market that ran far ahead of fundamentals and is now facing supply-demand imbalance.

Score 18 — Austin, TX: The correction case. Home values down 8.82% year over year. Inventory up 14.77%. Still 22.8% overvalued. The score does not predict what happens next; it describes where the market stands today.

A Framework for Decision-Making

Use the score as a first filter:

• Scores above 80: Strong market conditions. Low supply, strong demand, reasonable valuation. Warrants deeper research.
• Scores 60–80: Solid conditions with trade-offs. Understand what is driving the score before committing.
• Scores 40–60: Average or mixed conditions. Not a buy or avoid signal — depends on your strategy.
• Scores below 40: Meaningful headwinds in the current data. High inventory, weak demand, or significant overvaluation (or some combination). Requires a long time horizon or a specific thesis.

The Score Is a Snapshot, Not a Prediction

The PropertyIQ Score tells you where a market stands today relative to all other markets we track. It does not tell you what will happen next. A market scoring 18 might recover strongly over the next five years. A market scoring 99 might face new supply. The score is a starting point, not a conclusion.

The most useful application: use the score to quickly narrow 400+ markets to a shortlist, then dig into the underlying metrics for the markets that rank highest for your strategy.

PropertyIQ scores as of February 28, 2026. All data for informational purposes only.