Renter Search Behavior - One Year Later

Recap by Paul Bergeron
 

Apartments.com held its Spring Multifamily Insights Forum on April 21, featuring a day of national and local economic insights, changes in renter behavior, and innovations in search technology.

Unprecedented circumstances in the past year brought on by the pandemic created interesting and insightful trends in apartment searches on Apartments.com.

As part of its Spring Multifamily Insights Forum, CoStar Group’s Senior Director of Product, SEO, Jordan Silton, led a discussion and pointed to trends and statistics related to searches. He also highlighted new tools and features designed to increase traffic and leads for apartment communities listed on Apartments.com.

Silton gave a similar presentation a year ago in an Apartments.com webinar and drew comparisons from that in this year’s event.

One continuing, dominant trend has been searches conducted through Apartments.com. The site generated 10 million more leads in Q1 2020 compared to Q1 2021 — a 64 percent increase in what the site defines as “true leads.”

An astounding 65 percent of renters visited Apartments.com before visiting those clients' community sites. Additionally, 20 percent of these visits to Apartments.com lasted 15 minutes or less before the apartment seeker went to clients’ community websites.

Improving media has made digital apartment listings more attractive to prospects, including those searching via mobile devices.

During what has truly become a virtual, digital, technology-driven renter-search age in the past year, renters are engaging on property pages and 3D tours more than ever – there’s been a 20 percent increase in March overall; and 3D tours had a 51 percent increase. Mobile devices generated 70 percent of the traffic on Apartments.com.

Greater Engagement, Especially by Phone

Lead quality and actions taken are on the uprise.

Lead growth is exceeding search impressions (impressions is the tally of how often listings appear on a search results page). This means more interest in your community. And as a result, apartment seekers are taking more action to reach out to communities. They are not just searching to search.

Renters are calling about 18 percent more properties during their search (2.1 communities vs. 1.7) and are asking more questions. Emails being sent to properties by searchers are up about seven percent, but, overall, they are emailing the communities more than calling them.

Pet-Friendly Searches Dominate

Particular markets are drawing more specific renter interests, including based on search words.

Interestingly enough, dogs are one of the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic overall, as more and more adoptions took place the past year. “Dog-friendly” as a search term is up 51 percent year over year. So, our four-legged friends are definitely getting more attention.

New and more detailed reports from Apartments.com that zero in on local insights are available. Please contact your sales representative, who can share that info.

Urban vs. Suburban Stays Interesting

There’s been plenty of discussion comparing urban and suburban markets. Call it more like a boomerang trend, we’ve seen a move a way from urban markets about a year ago, but now a return to the city and its more attractive rents.

Given the trend that people can “work from anywhere,” it’s no surprise that 38 percent of rental searches are “out-of-market” inquiries. That spiking rate cooled a bit in December and January, but is beginning to tick up again.

The correlation between downtown and suburban impression growth is fairly even. If anything, right now, downtown is getting a little bit more lift.

The mostly declining available inventory is being filled nationwide. Downtown and urban availability is falling, nearing pre-pandemic levels.

Meeting the Needs of Renter Nation, Apartment Marketers

We’ve spent the past few years looking into ways our customers can optimize their listings and have launched new features and opportunities. We’ve really upped our game so that, even better, we can set you up for success. Following are some basic things that you can do to optimize your listings – all the way down to your individual units. Your sales reps can assist you or show you other capabilities.

All data indicate that “renter nation” is much more informed and apartment seekers have done an increasing amount of online research to narrow down their searches.

Apartments.com continues to rank very well on Google. Our listings are delivering massive exposure for your community websites. One reason is how we’ve upgraded the listings, adding more features than ever.

• Apartments.com is providing a listing score as part of its report, which is based on traffic, reviews, and other criteria. We find that the more factors apartment marketers share, the higher their scores can be.
• Apartment marketers should click the box, when applicable, for features such as air conditioning, Matterport 3D tour availability, and parking, among other options.
• Take advantage of the listings’ huge photo galleries that accommodate five images atop the page. Marketers can regularly manage and adjust the photos that appear to determine what images are most attractive to renters. This first impression is like the first 15 seconds of a YouTube video – you want to draw the renter in.
• Data shows that using an interior shot — like a photo of the kitchen or living room — in the main, larger photo is the most effective. During warmer weather, in some markets, it’s worth trying a pool photo. For the other four image windows, shots of the unit tend to outrate those of shared common spaces.
• While concessions have slowed a bit in the past few months, move-in specials should be displayed prominently. Be sure to take advantage of the title and description boxes to really sell the community. The title (or heading) should include a definition of the special. In the text, explain why the renter should take you up on your special. Pull them in right from the start.
• In the floor plan rendering, focus on model details more than the community so that renters know exactly what they are getting. Apartments.com allows marketers to put in unit-specific photos if they wish.
• In the contact section, there’s the opportunity to indicate Self-Guided Tour and Live Online Tour availability. This text can be customized.
• Renters hate sneaky fees, so our listings include lease terms, restrictions, and fees such as pet fees, and a variety of other charges. This enables the property to answer the questions that prospective residents will be asking during the tour.
• Marketers have the chance to spotlight the neighborhood’s attractive nearby locations and businesses, along with directions and the amount of time it takes to get there.
• Data shows that reviews are most correlated to driving leads. Apartments.com can pull in reviews from multiple sources: Kingsley, Grace Hill, and other ratings sites. Just let us know which rating sites you use. The reviews are then tallied and averaged into a community score. If you are new and don’t have any reviews yet, this score also includes other factors such as appliances and various community conditions and amenities.

For apartment marketers, the past year has been all about being nimble, managing unforeseen circumstances that apartment communities have been facing during this health crisis.

Apartments.com recognizes this and our site has focused on how to improve listings to fit today’s unique apartment-search environment and also put features in place that will make apartment living even more attractive as, hopefully, we emerge from the pandemic this year.

To view this or any other Apartments.com Spring Multifamily Insights Forum session, please visit apartments.com/springforum.