Permits. Zoning applications. Transit announcements.Census migration data.All public. All free. All updated regularly. In my testing across Austin and Chicago, zip codes with 3+ of these signals firing in the same quarter appreciated ~28% over 18 months vs ~9% for those with none. I'm building a tool that scores every US zip code automatically based on these signals. Think Zillow Heat Map but 18 months earlier.Before I go further — does this solve a real problem for how you actually invest? Or do you already have a system that works? Brutal honesty appreciated.
That's a fair point and actually proves why leading indicators matter more than picking a city.
Austin overall has cooled — you're right. But within Austin the story is completely different by zip code. Some zips are still appreciating while others dropped. The city level view misses that entirely.
The tool scores individual zip codes not cities. A high scoring zip in a cooling city can still outperform. A low scoring zip in a hot city can still disappoint.
That zip code level granularity is exactly where the edge comes from.