It’s report season! Software companies, associations, and data shops are all publishing their numbers, and the good stuff is scattered across a pile of websites and PDFs.
I rounded up the 2026 property management research reports so you don’t have to scour the internet for them. Eight stood out to me for single-family PMs. Here’s the full list with links, followed by the stats that matter, grouped by the problem they speak to.
All 8 reports in one place
In no particular order:
- Buildium’s 2027 State of the Property Management Industry Report: roughly 1,000 PMs, 300 owners, and 1,500+ renters surveyed in spring 2026. NARPM president DD Garzon wrote the foreword.
- IREM & AppFolio: AI Insights 2026: 3,662 respondents, released in early November 2026.
- AppFolio’s 2026 Property Management Benchmark Report: 1,617 PMs, published in February 2026.
- PM Trends Report 2026: 500 landlords with 1 to 10 units, surveyed by Harris Poll. We just commissioned Harris Poll again for the 2027 update, fielding in January. Get in touch if you want to lock up your category for sponsorship.
- Property Meld’s Annual Benchmarking Report: 10M+ work orders, plus a monthly version.
- RentEngine Q3 2026 Leasing Data & Trends Report: days on market, pre-vacancy listings, specials, and AI response rates.
- ShowMojo Q3 2026 Data Talk: 1.8M+ leased units, broken out by region.
- Rentometer Mid-Year 2026 Single-Family Rental Report: asking rents across 1,099 cities.
AI: most PMs use it, fewer see it in NOI
Buildium’s 2027 State of the Property Management Industry Report (yes, 2027, they’re early) has the stat I keep coming back to. 64% of companies plan to grow their portfolios, while 70% plan to keep headcount flat.
That’s the whole AI thesis in one stat. More doors, same team. That math only works if software picks up the work your next hire would have done.
The IREM & AppFolio AI Insights 2026 report shows how far along operators are. Of 3,662 respondents, 58% now use AI, and 85% of those users report productivity gains. Only 48% say AI has helped NOI. And only 8% of organizations have a written AI policy.
So people feel faster, but fewer than half can point to it on the bottom line. And most are running AI with no written rules.
AppFolio’s 2026 Property Management Benchmark Report, from February, surveyed 1,617 PMs. 78% said they can’t yet rely on the AI features in their legacy software. (An interesting stat for a software company to publish.)
On the leasing side, RentEngine’s Q3 report found AI answered 87% of prospect messages before a tour was booked.
Owners: they drive your growth, and one bad roof can cost you one
Two reports say a lot about owners.
Buildium found that 53% of growing companies say owner referrals drove the most growth. Your best growth channel is the owners you already have.
Then there’s the PM Trends Report 2026, the one I co-wrote with Jordan Muela. Harris Poll surveyed 500 landlords who own 1 to 10 units. 75% expect to use AI to find their next property manager. 31% would seriously consider selling after a surprise repair under $15K.
Your owners are one bad roof away from a listing appointment.
Put the two together. Your happy owners are your growth plan, and almost a third of small landlords would think hard about selling after one big repair bill. When they do go looking for a new PM, three in four expect to use AI to find one.
Leasing: fewer leads, softer rents, and pricing matters most
Three reports cover the leasing market.
Rentometer’s Mid-Year 2026 Single-Family Rental Report puts the median asking rent for a 3-bed SFR at $2,100 in the first half of 2026, down 1.6% year over year across 1,099 cities. Rents fell in 49% of markets, and the usual spring bump never showed up.
ShowMojo’s Q3 2026 Data Talk draws on 1.8M+ leased units. In Q3, leads per home fell in three of four regions, and somewhere between a quarter and a third of listings needed a rent cut, depending on the region. Mispriced units took 51 to 58 days to lease, versus 24 to 29 days for correctly priced ones.
That’s roughly double the time on market for getting the price wrong.
RentEngine’s Q3 2026 Leasing Data & Trends Report found days on market held at 28 for the second straight quarter, and about half of Q3 leases were listed before the unit was vacant.
My favorite stat from the whole batch is in there too. About 6% of homes launched with a special offer, and their median days on market came out the same as similar homes without one.
If you’re tempted to throw a special at a slow listing, check your price first.
Repairs are slower, and application fraud is common
Property Meld’s Annual Benchmarking Report is built on 10M+ work orders. Average repair time climbed to 6.81 days in 2025, up from 6.32 in 2024. July and September were the worst months. They also publish a monthly version if you want to track it as you go.
AppFolio’s benchmark report adds the fraud number: 56% of PMs saw application fraud in the past year. More than half.
If I missed a good one, let me know.
Adapted from Tuesday Edition #42 of my newsletter. I write it twice a week for property managers, no fluff. Subscribe here.