Citing Increasing Importance of Smaller Markets to Investors, Reis, Inc. Expands Apartment Coverage to 52 Additional Markets.

NEW YORK -- Reis, Inc., today announced the expansion of the company's multifamily and commercial real estate surveillance services by an additional 52 apartment markets for the apartment sector, raising the total number of markets covered to 133. The announcement of Reis's expanded coverage coincides with the release of a special report that shows a decline in vacancy rates and stable rent growth in the nation's smaller apartment markets; in contrast, some leading apartment markets have faltered in recent quarters in the face of competition from a growing "shadow market" of condominiums-for-rent.

Explaining the reason for the expansion of coverage, Reis cites the increasing importance of smaller markets in the real estate investment picture. "As transaction prices in the largest apartment markets have reached historic highs, some investors have diversified their portfolios through acquisitions in smaller metropolitan areas," said Chief Economist Dr. Sam Chandan. "Increasingly, our clients have requested that we bring to bear Reis's survey methodologies and forecasting expertise to provide transparency in these emerging markets."

For each of the new markets, which include a large number of California and Florida metros, the company offers its popular property-level Rent Comparables report, as well as a new Performance Monitor report. The Performance Monitor provides current and historical measurements of rent, vacancy, and inventory, as well as relevant economic and demographic information. To facilitate the comparison of market conditions, this information is displayed within its regional and national context.

The company says that today's release is the first phase in a multi-quarter surveillance expansion strategy. "We will continue to expand our coverage in the coming months and years, to further enhance our reputation as the industry's primary source for the best and widest array of market data and transaction support analytics," said Reis COO Bill Sander.

Rent Comparables and Performance Monitor reports for the new markets are available as an add-on module to Reis Subscriber Edition.

About Reis, Inc. -- A leading provider of multifamily and commercial real estate market information to the investment community for more than 20 years, Reis, Inc., offers unrivaled coverage of 133 U.S. metropolitan areas and over 2,300 submarkets for the four principle commercial property types. Reis Subscriber Edition has been widely adopted by institutions around the world, who use Reis data and analytics in all phases of real estate asset and portfolio management. More information is available at http://www.reis.com.