How Neighborhoods Shape Multifamily Performance
The submarket is one of the most relied-upon benchmarks in multifamily, but it’s also one of the most misleading. Submarket boundaries are drawn around zip codes and roads, not around the way renters actually choose where to live. Two properties a few blocks apart can perform like they’re in completely different markets, and the blended average tells you nothing meaningful about either one.
In this research, RealPage introduces demand pockets as an analytical lens for identifying where a single anchor creates a measurable performance advantage that the surrounding submarket average cannot see. Using Dallas as a case study, the analysis examines how pockets form, what drives their durability, and what changes when an anchor disappears.
Whether you’re acquiring assets, managing a portfolio through a soft market, or pressure-testing a renovation thesis, this session gives you a sharper tool for one of the most consequential location decisions in multifamily.
You will gain insight into:
- What a demand pocket is and how it differs from a submarket boundary
- How to identify the anchor driving a pocket and what anchor type tells you about durability
- Which Dallas pockets showed the strongest rent performance and which ones did not
- How pocket-level results compared to the submarket average through past market corrections
- What the demand pocket framework means for site selection, underwriting, repositioning, and hold decisions
Carl Whitaker is RealPage’s Chief Economist, leading the company's team of economists and market analysts. Carl and the Market Intelligence team specialize in analyzing and disseminating economic and market trends for the rental housing industry. He primarily focuses on presenting trends in the rental housing industry to a wide audience, including investors, asset managers, operations professionals and media, among other personas. Carl has been cited in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and GlobeSt and is a frequent keynote speaker for industry events. Carl holds degrees from the University of North Texas, including a Master of Science in Applied Geography.
Adam Couch
Research Analyst, RealPage, Inc.Adam Couch specializes in residential housing research and advanced analytics, with a focus on risk assessment, emerging trends, capital markets, and demographic shifts across the multifamily sector. He develops forward‑looking research into strategic recommendations that guide executive decision‑making across investment, portfolio strategy, and operations through market cycles and changing economic conditions. Adam has spoken at commercial real estate conferences, been cited in The Dallas Morning News, and previously advised Fannie Mae on multifamily asset management strategy.
