Academic research on rental housing has a data problem. Not a shortage of papers — there’s no shortage of those. The problem is what most of that research is built on: scraped listing data, survey estimates, or third-party aggregations with opaque methodology. Dwellsy IQ and Dewey Data are changing that.
Dwellsy IQ has partnered with Dewey Data to make Dwellsy’s US Multifamily and SFR Rental Listings dataset available on the Dewey platform — purpose-built for academics, university researchers, and data-driven analysts who need reliable underlying data for peer-reviewed work.
The partnership is live. The data feed is running. And for the first time, researchers have access to the same first-party rental listings data that property managers, underwriters, and institutional analysts rely on.
The Problem: Rental Research Runs on the Wrong Data
Rental housing research is in high demand. Housing affordability, rent burden, supply constraints, regional migration patterns — these are policy-relevant questions attracting serious academic attention. But the data infrastructure supporting that research hasn’t kept pace.
The most common sources researchers have relied on to date include publicly available listing aggregations (often scraped from consumer-facing sites), survey-based estimates from government datasets, and commercial datasets that are either priced for institutional finance clients or unavailable to academic institutions at all.
Each of these comes with real limitations. Scraped listing data tends to overcount certain property types and undercount others, and doesn’t reflect actual availability or pricing at the unit level. Survey data is valuable but captures snapshots — it doesn’t support the kind of longitudinal, ZIP-level analysis many researchers need. And even when commercial data exists, it’s rarely structured for academic research workflows.
The result is that much of the academic literature on rental housing is built on data with known gaps — gaps that practitioners in the market have long since moved past.
What Dwellsy IQ Brings to the Research Community
Dwellsy IQ tracks millions of rental listings going back to 2020, sourced directly from more than 25,000 property managers through 30+ PMS integrations. It covers both multifamily and single-family rentals (SFR) across 16,000+ ZIP codes and 800+ MSAs nationwide, with weekly updates delivered via AWS.
The key differentiator is sourcing. Dwellsy IQ data comes directly from property management systems — not from listing sites, not from surveys, not from scraped web data. That means the dataset reflects actual listings as they enter and exit the market, at the unit level, with the pricing and availability information that operators are actively managing.
For researchers, this means:
- Coverage depth: both multifamily and SFR across more than 800 MSAs, with historical data back to 2020
- Unit-level granularity: listings data at the ZIP code level, not aggregated to city or metro averages
- First-party sourcing: data that comes from the managers themselves, not intermediaries or consumer platforms
- Consistent update cadence: weekly refreshes that allow for longitudinal analysis across time
Dwellsy IQ is already used by institutional clients in real estate finance, underwriting, and market analysis. The Dewey partnership extends that same dataset to the academic research community.
How Dewey Is Structured for Academic Use
Dewey Data is a research data platform built specifically for academics and institutional researchers. It serves university libraries, research teams, and analysts who need access to commercial and proprietary datasets under license terms designed for scholarly use.
Through the Dewey platform, researchers can access the Dwellsy US Multifamily and SFR Rental Listings dataset, download it for use in their work, and publish summary insights derived from the data. The data is available under terms designed to support academic research purposes — including publication of findings — while maintaining appropriate use restrictions on redistribution of raw data.
The platform also handles the infrastructure complexity that typically creates friction for academics working with large datasets: delivery via AWS, clear licensing terms, and a structured access model that institutions can work with.
What This Means for Rental Market Research
With access to Dwellsy IQ’s first-party dataset, researchers can now conduct analysis that wasn’t previously possible from publicly available sources: ZIP-level rent trend analysis across a consistent five-year historical window, multifamily and SFR comparisons within the same dataset, and longitudinal studies that track market movements over time rather than relying on cross-sectional snapshots.
Dwellsy and Dewey are also planning a co-hosted seminar in late April 2026, giving researchers an opportunity to learn directly about the dataset and how to apply it to active research questions.
FAQ
What data does Dwellsy IQ provide through the Dewey partnership?
Dwellsy IQ provides its US Multifamily and SFR Rental Listings dataset, covering millions of listings sourced directly from 25,000+ property managers. The dataset includes both multifamily and single-family rental listings across 16,000+ ZIP codes and 800+ MSAs, with weekly updates and historical data going back to 2020.
Who can access Dwellsy data through Dewey?
The Dewey platform is designed for academic researchers, university libraries, and data-driven analysts working on scholarly or research purposes. Researchers can access and download the data for academic use and publish summary insights derived from it.
How is Dwellsy IQ data different from publicly available rental data?
Dwellsy IQ data is sourced directly from property management systems — not scraped from listing sites or estimated from surveys. This means it reflects actual unit-level listings as they enter and exit the market, with pricing and availability information that comes directly from the operators managing those properties.
Can researchers publish findings based on Dwellsy data?
Researchers can publish summary insights derived from the data for academic research purposes. Raw data redistribution is not permitted under the license terms. Full use restrictions are available in Dewey’s terms and conditions.
What types of research questions is this dataset best suited for?
The dataset is well-suited for research on housing affordability, rent burden, regional price dynamics, supply analysis, and multifamily vs. SFR market comparisons. Its ZIP-level granularity and five-year historical depth make it particularly valuable for longitudinal and geographic analysis.
How do I get access to Dwellsy IQ data for my research?
Access is available through the Dewey platform at deweydata.io. Universities and research institutions can also contact Dwellsy IQ directly to discuss data access — reach us through the Dwellsy IQ website. For broader institutional or enterprise inquiries, our team is happy to talk through what makes sense for your use case.
