10 Proven Real Estate APIs That Deliver Unrivaled Market Insights

0
81
real estate marketplace

Making informed investment decisions relies on having timely access to reliable data. But, this can be a real challenge with so many segmented and unreliable data sources. Real estate APIs offer a way for businesses to leverage clean data to build their own custom data analytics tools, pipe data into existing tools, or some combination of the two

In this article, we’ll share 10 of the best real estate APIs that are designed to help you unlock real estate marketplace insights and drive better investment decision making. By the end of this article, you’ll be equipped with the tools to choose the right real estate API and start leveraging data to access unrivaled market insights.

What is a real estate API?

Real estate APIs are web services that provide access to various types of data related to the real estate industry. For example, you can use real estate data APIs to get information about properties, listings, prices, mortgages, neighborhoods, schools, crime, and more. Real estate APIs can be useful for real estate software developers, investors, brokers, agents, and anyone who needs reliable and up-to-date real estate data.

What can real estate APIs be used for?

Real estate APIs can be utilized in numerous ways to support data-driven decision-making within the real estate industry. They act as a bridge, linking different software systems and enabling them to share and use a variety of property-related information. Real estate listing APIs can be used to:

  • Develop data analysis tools that give real estate professionals and investors direct access to market trend data, local property information, and investment insights.
  • Enhance user experience and engagement on real estate websites or apps by providing highly relevant information such as neighborhood walk scores or crime ratings.
  • Automate tasks and workflows for real estate companies that have traditionally managed data manually by pulling, organizing, and filtering it themselves.
  • Create PropTech products or services that leverage real-time access to real estate data.

What do I need to know about APIs?

If you’re considering leveraging real estate APIs, you might have questions about how they work and what you need to know before getting started. Here are a few key points about APIs:

  • APIs act as intermediaries, taking user or system requests and instructing the backend system to provide the relevant information. You can integrate real estate APIs into your software applications to access valuable data.
  • APIs use data exchange formats like XML, JSON, or others to transfer data between systems or software applications.
  • APIs can have various pricing models:
    • Free: Open access with no payment required.
    • Flat rate: Use the data as long as you pay a fixed fee.
    • Frequency subscription: Higher payments grant access to more data over a specified time period.
    • Completeness of data subscription: Higher payments provide more comprehensive or complete data.
    • Individually negotiated: Access terms are tailored to your specific needs.
  • APIs differ in scope. Some offer basic datasets, such as MLS-based real estate listings, while others use AI or machine learning to derive valuable insights from raw data.

Top 10 Picks for Best Real Estate APIs

Navigating the diverse landscape of real estate APIs can be as complex as real estate investing itself. However, if you’re a business endeavoring to establish or enhance your footprint in the real estate domain, integrating with the right APIs can make all the difference. Here, we’ve assembled a list of the top 10 standout real estate APIs for businesses. Each has the potential to not just augment your operations but to position you at the vanguard of the industry. Let’s dive in.

1. ATTOM Property Data API

ATTOM is a leading provider of real estate market data, offering access to more than 70 billion rows of data and 9,000 discrete data attributes for 155 million U.S. properties, covering 99 percent of the nation’s population. ATTOM’s API is a self-serving platform that allows users to query and integrate property and neighborhood data into their products and applications.

Category: General – residential & commercial real estate

Data sources: County assessor and recorder offices, real estate brokers and agents, and third-party providers, such as school rating agencies

Architectural style: REST

Data available via the API:

  • Property data: Property details, addresses, ownership details, recent home sales history, ATTOMIZED AVM, owner and mortgage details, school ratings, property valuations
  • Area data: Neighborhood boundaries, school attendance zones
  • Points of interest data: Restaurants, banks, shopping
  • Community data: Crime, population, education, weather stats and averages, commuter times, climate change information

Free trial access: ATTOM offers a free trial for its Property Data API. You can request a free trial account on their website.

Price: $850 – $2,000/mo ($$$$)

2. RentCast (formerly Realty Mole)

RentCast is a real estate data API that provides on-demand access to 140,000+ property records, valuation estimates, active listings, and real estate market trends for residential and commercial properties across the US. Powered by Realty Mole, RentCast API is designed to assist real estate agents, investors, developers, and researchers with their data needs.

Category: Real estate rentals

Data sources: Public records, MLS feeds, and listing aggregators

Architectural style: REST

Data available via the API:

  • Property records: Structural attributes, features, tax assessment history, last sale information, and current owner details
  • Valuation estimates: Home value and rent estimates (AVM) for any property based on its characteristics and nearby comparable listings. The API also provides an estimated range and a list of comps.
  • Active listings: For-sale and for-rent listings in all 50 states, along with descriptions, statuses, listed prices, and days on the market
  • Market trends: Historical rent trends, market averages, listing, and composition statistics for any US zip code

Free trial access: Free API plan available, which includes up to 50 free API calls per month

Price: $0-449/mo ($$)

3. Real Estate APIs

Zillow is a leading online real estate marketplace providing data and insights on over 100 million homes across the United States. The Zillow API suite allows developers to access real estate data for various applications, such as websites, mobile apps, research tools, or data analysis.

Access to the data is determined by individual MLS partners in the US and Canada, and the API is currently available by invitation only.

Category: Residential real estate

Data sources: Public records, user-submitted data, multiple listing services (MLS), and proprietary algorithms

Architectural style: REST

Data available via the API:

  • Home valuation data: Zestimate (Zillow’s estimated market value), other valuation-related data such as comparable homes, valuation range, and historical Zestimates
  • Property details data: Address, features, facts, photos, and more
  • Neighborhood data: Demographic and geographic data for a given region, such as population, income, education, crime data, and climate information
  • Mortgage data: Current mortgage rates and quotes from multiple lenders, affordability calculators, and other mortgage-related tools

Free trial access: Zillow’s APIs are free to use for non-commercial purposes, subject to certain usage limits and terms of use. You need to register for a Zillow Web Services ID (ZWSID) to access the APIs. You can also request additional API calls if you exceed the usage limits.

Price: $0-250/month ($)

4. Datafiniti Property Data API

The Property Data API from Datafiniti provides access to 172 million real estate records, including information on residential and commercial listings, sold properties, rentals, and short-term rentals. Users can also enrich existing property data by appending information from Datafiniti’s database.

Category: Commercial and residential real estate

Data sources: Online records, third-party data partnerships, public information

Architectural style: REST

Data available via the API:

  • Property details: Type of property, size, year built, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, additional features like pools, fireplaces, or garages
  • Listing data: Real estate agent information, sales prices, rental prices, pet policies, and property taxes
  • Property location: Address, city, province, state, zip code, latitude, longitude
  • Property owner: Current owner name, phone number, email address

Free trial access: Users can sign up for a 2-week free trial account on the Datafiniti website and get access to 1k free records.

Price: $119-$3999/mo ($$$$)

5. Realtors Property Resource

Realtors Property Resource (RPR) is a platform providing comprehensive data, analytics, and client-friendly reports for real estate professionals. Exclusively available to members of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), RPR offers tools and reports to assist agents, brokers, appraisers, and associations in making informed decisions and impressing clients.

Category: General – residential & commercial real estate

Data sources: Public records, multiple listing service (MLS), third-party data providers, and NAR partner organizations

Architectural style: RPC (Remote Procedure Call) using XML and SOAP protocols

Data available via the API:

  • Property data: Detailed information on over 160 million real estate properties in the US, including public records, deeds, mortgages, valuations, sales history, tax assessments, school zones, flood maps, and more
  • Market data: Trends, forecasts, and comparisons for local markets, neighborhoods, and properties
  • Property location: Demographic, psychographic, and spending data for any geographic area, as well as business points of interest and opportunity zones
  • Commercial data: Verified lease and sales comps from CompStak Exchange, and property listings from Crexi

Free trial access: RPR does not offer free trial access to its API. However, NAR members can access the RPR website and mobile app for free by creating an account with their NRDS ID.

Price: Free for NAR members ($)

6. RealEstateAPI.com

RealEstateAPI.com offers access to comprehensive data on over 150 million properties and owners in the US. Designed for developers wanting to build innovative prop-tech applications, it provides various endpoints to fetch, manipulate, and analyze real property data in real-time.

Category: Prop-tech developer-focused

Data sources: Over 200 sources, including county assessor records, MLS listings, public records, proprietary data sets, and third-party vendors

Architectural style: REST

Data available via the API:

  • Property detail: Physical and financial details on every parcel in the US, such as square footage, lot size, bed/bath count, tax, mortgage, liens, sales history, foreclosure status, etc.
  • Property comps: Current comparable sales for a given property based on similarity and proximity
  • Parcel boundary: Geographic coordinates of the property boundary for a given address
  • Address auto-complete: Suggestions based on user input
  • Address verification: Validity and deliverability check for an address
  • Property detail bulk: Retrieve property details for multiple addresses in one request
  • Skip trace bulk: Retrieve contact information for multiple owners in one request

Free trial access: Offers a free trial for 14 days with 500 API calls per day

Price: Contact the vendor for pricing

7. Mashvisor

Mashvisor provides real estate investors and agents with access to granular and summary level information, property performance analysis, and up-to-date performance metrics for cities, zip codes, and neighborhoods across the US, covering over 450,000 properties. It also offers predictive analytics based on big data and AI algorithms.

Category: Residential, short term & long term rentals

Data sources: MLS providers, Airbnb API, public records, census data, user-generated content, and proprietary algorithms

Architectural style: REST

Data available via the property details API:

  • Short term rental data: Information such as area income, occupancy estimates, cash flow, and reviews to estimate short-term rental profitability
  • Long term rentals data: Forecasts of rental income, occupancy, cash flow, and return on investment to identify profitable long-term investment properties
  • Property data: MLS listing information, property characteristics, rental history, sales history, tax details, owner information, and neighborhood data for fair market value assessment
  • Rental rates: Estimated average rental rates for short and long term rentals, categorized by bedroom count for informed pricing decisions
  • Mashvisor unique analytics: Predictive analytics to evaluate investment potential of housing markets and individual rental properties, supported by big data and AI algorithms

Free trial access: No free trial available, but a free demo is available by request

Price: $29.99 – $119/mo ($)

8. AirDNA

AirDNA is a global leader in short-term rental data and analytics, handling comprehensive data from over 10 million properties in 120,000+ markets. Through innovative data extraction methods and partnerships with property managers and hosts, AirDNA provides accurate, CBRE-validated data to Airbnb and Vrbo stakeholders, with a remarkable data accuracy rate.

Category: Short term rentals

Data sources: Airbnb’s website and API, proprietary sources, and machine learning algorithms

Architectural style: REST

Data available via the API:

  • Property valuations: Annual and monthly revenue, average daily rates (ADR), and occupancy projections with up to 10 comparable properties
  • Listing data: Property attributes and rental performance for single or multiple Airbnb listings, as well as availability data for a given time period
  • Market data: Overview of market statistics for the last calendar month, and historical and future data on supply, demand, rates, occupancy, revenue, and RevPAR for a market organized by bedroom count, month, and year
  • Property availability: Availability and estimated price of a single property
  • Smart rates: Dynamic pricing data and recommendations for a property

Free trial access: AirDNA does not offer a free trial for its API, but users can request a demo or contact the sales team for a quote and a private token.

Price: $12 – $599/mo ($$)

9. Reonomy

Reonomy provides commercial real estate intelligence through data solutions. Reonomy data connects properties, companies, people, and transactions across the US, offering scheduled data delivery, live data integration, and a property search engine.

Category: Commercial real estate

Data sources: Public records, proprietary sources, and third-party vendors, verified and enriched using machine learning and human validation

Architectural style: REST

Data available via the API:

  • Property details: Basic information such as address, asset type, building area, lot area, year built, etc.
  • Ownership information: Reported owner name, contact information, mailing address, etc.
  • Tenant information: Tenant name, industry, lease start and end dates, etc.
  • Sale information: Sale date, price, buyer and seller names, etc.
  • Mortgage information: Loan amount, lender name, interest rate type, loan type, etc.
  • Foreclosure information: Foreclosure date, document type, deed category, etc.
  • Tax information: Assessed value, tax amount, tax year, etc.
  • Parcel shape information: GeoJSON representation of the property boundaries

Free trial access: 14-day free trial is available for the web application. To access the API, you need to request an API key from Reonomy and sign a contract.

Price: $399-1,197/mo ($$$)

10. CompStak

CompStak is a commercial real estate data platform providing lease and sales comps, property details, and market analytics. It sources data from verified and active professionals at commercial brokerages and appraisal firms, and public records. CompStak offers various products and services, including API integrations for accessing premium property data directly from applications.

Category: Commercial real estate

Data sources: Data gathered from verified and active professionals at commercial brokerages and appraisal firms who contribute lease and sales comps in exchange for access to the platform. Public records are also used for some sales comps. Every comp undergoes an extensive collection and review process by CompStak’s team of real estate data experts to ensure reliability.

Architectural style: REST

Data available via the API:

  • Market insights: Rents, concessions for various markets, heat maps, and reports for visualization
  • Property data: Building comparisons via CompStak’s Market Rent Algorithm, market rent calculations based on a building’s competitive set, space square footage, and floor space, historical market rent, free rent, and work value along with similar recent lease details
  • Property standardization: Match and eliminate duplicate data with CompStak. Handle properties with multiple parcels, addresses, and more.

Free trial access: CompStak does not offer a free trial for its API integrations. However, it does offer a demo upon request.

Price: Free ($)

Real Estate Software Development

Leverage extensive expertise in real estate software development to harness the power of real estate data or even build a bespoke PropTech software solution.

The experienced team works with real estate APIs and web scraping real estate portals to help maximize your ROI. Check out what has been built for other business clients or reach out to get a personalized quote.

Comments are closed.