Roofstock, an online marketplace for single-family rental home investment, announced a single-family rental ratings index for U.S. neighborhoods, using a algorithm that assesses neighborhood-specific risk.
The new took is designed to normalize neighborhood data across markets, enabling buyers to easily compare rental properties on an even footing and make informed decisions.
The Roofstock Neighborhood Rating is computed at the census tract level, giving investors an added layer of localized insight when measuring the risk vs. reward trade-off.
Rather than use the Consumer Price Index to compare incomes or homes values between areas, the Roofstock Neighborhood Rating uses a hierarchical machine learning framework in order to create a constant quality standard of living normalization.
The new tools analyzes data across 72,000 U.S. census tracts—each composed of approximately 1,500 homes. The the Roofstock Neighborhood Rating algorithm is based on dozens of factors, including:
- Home values
- Income levels
- Employment rates
- Educational attainment
- Percent of owner-occupied homes
- Elementary, middle, and high school district ratings
“Roofstock’s innovative approach provides a new level of transparency and data, breaking down the traditional barriers that once existed in the property investment sector,” said Gary Beasley, CEO and co-Founder, Roofstock.
“By compiling information at the U.S. census tract level, including income, crime, schools, property values and the nature of housing stock, our new Neighborhood Ratings index offers all investors access to the most vital information needed to make informed investment decisions,” he added.
