Data Sources

Local Equity Report aggregates data from multiple authoritative public and private sources to deliver the most accurate home equity analytics available. Below is a detailed overview of each data source powering our platform.

Primary Data Sources

Listing Aggregator Data (Zillow, Redfin)

Updated Weekly

We aggregate publicly available listing and transaction data from major real estate platforms including Zillow (ZHVI) and Redfin market trackers. These sources provide a detailed view of housing market activity.

Active listings — Current asking prices, property details, and days on market
Pending sales — Properties under contract, providing forward-looking transaction signals
Closed sales — Final transaction prices, which anchor our valuation models
Historical data — Multi-year transaction records enabling trend analysis and repeat-sales indexing

County Assessor & Tax Records

Updated Annually / Semi-Annually

Publicly available property assessment data from county assessor offices across all 50 states. These records provide a comprehensive baseline of property characteristics and government-assessed values.

Assessed values — Official property valuations used for tax purposes
Property characteristics — Square footage, lot size, year built, bedrooms/bathrooms
Ownership records — Deed transfers and ownership history
Tax information — Property tax rates and levies by jurisdiction

U.S. Census Bureau / American Community Survey

Updated Annually

The U.S. Census Bureau and its ongoing American Community Survey (ACS) provide critical demographic and housing context that shapes our market analysis.

Homeownership rates — Owner-occupancy rates by geography
Median household income — Used in affordability ratio calculations
Housing stock characteristics — Age, type, and condition of housing units
Population and migration — Growth trends that influence housing demand

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)

Updated Quarterly

The FHFA publishes the House Price Index (HPI), a broad measure of single-family house price movements based on repeat mortgage transactions on properties with conforming loans.

House Price Index (HPI) — Repeat-sales price index at national, state, and metro levels
Purchase-only index — Excludes refinances for a purer price signal
Historical series — Data extending back to the 1970s for long-term trend analysis

Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)

Updated Monthly

The Zillow Home Value Index provides a smoothed, seasonally adjusted measure of the typical home value across a given geography. We use ZHVI as a benchmark and cross-validation layer.

ZHVI All Homes — Typical home value for all residential property types
ZHVI by tier — Top, middle, and bottom-tier home value indices
Rental indices — Zillow Observed Rent Index for investment analysis context

Proprietary Modeling & Validation

Continuous

Our proprietary models synthesize all source data into the final analytics presented on Local Equity Report. The modeling layer handles data normalization, outlier detection, gap-filling, and cross-source validation.

Blended valuation model — Combines listing, assessor, and index data into a single best-estimate value
Equity estimation engine — Models outstanding mortgage balances from origination data and amortization schedules
LER Index calculator — Composite scoring algorithm combining value, growth, equity, liquidity, and affordability
Anomaly detection — Automated flagging of data inconsistencies and non-arm's-length transactions

Data Freshness & Update Schedule

We maintain a rigorous update cadence to ensure the data on Local Equity Report reflects current market conditions:

Weekly — Transaction data from listing aggregators, median home values, equity estimates, LER Index scores
Monthly — Zillow Home Value Index benchmarks, market liquidity metrics
Quarterly — FHFA House Price Index, mortgage rate impacts
Annually — Census/ACS demographics, county assessor records (varies by jurisdiction)

All timestamps reflect the most recent data incorporation date. Markets with stale or insufficient data are clearly flagged in our interface.

Interested in data partnerships or API access? Contact us at info@localequityreport.com.