MRI Buys Houston Apartment Data Firm

HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – MRI Software, a global real estate software firm, has acquired ApartmentData.com, a Houston based firm that provides detailed market information to the multifamily industry.

ApartmentData.com is a Houston-based provider of market research and data solutions that enable multifamily property owners and managers to optimize pricing and occupancy.

Founded in 1986 by John Severance, ApartmentData.com provides comprehensive information on professionally managed properties with more than 50 units, including pricing, concessions, occupancy, amenities, and policies at the floor plan level. The company serves 12 of the fastest-growing metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S.: Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Atlanta, Phoenix/Tucson, Nashville, Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville.

ApartmentData.com supplements its digital collection techniques with direct calling and client communications, helping ensure the highest levels of data accuracy and detail.

“Over the last several years, we’ve significantly expanded our MRI Living portfolio to provide tools that make our clients’ lives easier and help them take better care of their residents, businesses, and themselves,” says John Ensign, MRI’s president and executive managing director, North America. “Data is critical to helping us deliver on those objectives.”

In addition to deepening MRI’s footprint in the southern U.S., the acquisition enhances the company’s MRI Living suite, an already extensive portfolio of multifamily solutions that empower property owners and operators with AI-first tools to easily manage every part of the residential lifecycle, from lead to lease to renewal.

John Severance, founder and chief technology officer of ApartmentData.com, looks forward to what he describes as “the next chapter.” He states: “By leveraging the resources of MRI, we can more easily address the growing demand for insights at a time when most multifamily organizations need to drive occupancy and maximize revenue.”

Today, MRI serves more than 82 percent of companies on the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC) list of top 50 U.S. apartment managers. Additionally, MRI solutions support more than 20 million residential units worldwide.

MRI will continue to serve ApartmentData.com clients without interruption. Silvermark Partners served as the exclusive advisor to Apartment Data.com in the transaction.

MRI has been in the PropTech industry for over five decades, serving more than 2 million users worldwide.

Bruce McClenny, who has been an industry analyst and the public face of the firm in Houston in public forums over the years, will stay on as head of ApartmentData.com division of MRI, a company spokesperson said m. McClenny has served on the of the Houston Apartment Association’s Board of Directors and is a past President of HAA’s Product Service Council.

In its most recent report, Apartment Data said Houston apartment rents have risen about 10 percent over the last year.

“At the end of Q2 2022, overall rent levels for Houston and San Antonio are most similar with Houston at $1,248 and San Antonio at $1,209,” the ApartmentData.com report said. “When compared to DFW, these markets are priced at least 20% less which nominally equates to a $250 to $300 difference in overall rent. When compared to Austin the difference is much more dramatic. Austin’s overall rent level is 33% greater than that of Houston and San Antonio. On average, it costs $425 to $460 more per month to rent an apartment in Austin than in Houston or San Antonio.”

Photo Caption: Bruce McClenny of ApartmentData.com speaks to the annual forecast breakfast of the Houston Apartment Association on Jan 22, 2019.

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