Glossary.

Every real-estate, economic, demographic, and risk term used across the Stratara platform — including the indices and advanced composites we compute, and the public data sources behind them.

CRE Fundamentals · 9Stratara Index · 8Advanced Composite · 7Market & Demographics · 6Housing & Supply · 5Risk & Climate · 5Data Source · 4

A B C D E F G H I JM N O P Q R SWZ

10-Year Treasury Yield: The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note — the risk-free benchmark against which the cap-rate spread, and therefore real-estate risk premia, are measured.

Absorption: The net change in occupied space over a period — newly leased units minus units returned to market. Positive absorption is demand realized; it is the demand-side counterweight to new supply.
Affordability Index: A 0–100 index of housing cost relative to local incomes. Higher scores indicate a market where typical households can more comfortably carry rents and home prices.

Basis Point (bps): One one-hundredth of a percentage point. Cap-rate moves and mispricing signals are quoted in basis points to avoid ambiguity.
BLS QCEW: The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — near-complete employment and wage counts by sector and county.
Building Permits: Authorized new residential units — a forward indicator of supply that lands 12–24 months ahead of completions.

Cap Rate: Capitalization rate — net operating income divided by property value. It is the unlevered yield an investor earns buying all-cash, and the primary lens through which commercial real estate is priced.
Cap Rate Spread: The gap between a market's prevailing cap rate and the 10-year Treasury yield — the risk premium investors demand over the risk-free rate. A compressed (thin) spread signals a late-cycle or richly priced market.
Capital Depth: The sophistication of a market’s local financial system — bank deposit density, branch coverage, mortgage penetration, and home-price stability. Deeper capital markets transact more efficiently and reprice faster.
Census ACS: The American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau — the source for income, rent, migration, education, and household demographics.
Census Building Permits Survey: The U.S. Census Bureau’s monthly count of residential construction authorized by building permits — the leading supply indicator.
CHEAP / RICH Signal: Stratara’s mispricing call. CHEAP means a market’s observed cap rate sits materially above model fair value (excess yield on offer); RICH means cap rates have compressed below fair value (overpriced). The gap is quoted in basis points.
Climate Resilience: Resistance to physical and climate-driven shocks — combining community resilience, air quality, multi-year storm history, and an inversion of social vulnerability.
Composite Score: Stratara’s headline 0–100 signal — the equal-weighted average of six index scores. It summarizes a market’s overall standing in a single comparable number.
Connectivity: Infrastructure and workforce connectivity — airport enplanements per capita, broadband access, commute times, and remote-work adoption.

Demand Driver Density: The concentration of structural demand anchors near a market — healthcare, education, government, and technology employment clusters that produce durable, cycle-resistant occupancy demand.
Demographic Tailwind: The strength of demographic inflow and growth — population growth rate, gross migration inflows, working-age migration share, and university enrollment density.
Distress Index: The concentration of market-stress signals — eviction activity, foreclosure timelines, overdose mortality, and social vulnerability. High readings can signal value-add opportunity or elevated default risk depending on strategy (lower is better).

Expected Annual Loss (EAL): FEMA’s annualized dollar-loss estimate from natural hazards for a county — the core climate-risk input behind a market’s risk discount.

Fair Value (Cap Rate): Stratara’s model estimate of the cap rate a market’s fundamentals justify — employment, demographics, supply, and climate load. Divergence between observed pricing and model fair value is what produces a CHEAP or RICH call.
FEMA NRI: The FEMA National Risk Index — a standardized, county-level measure of natural-hazard risk combining expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
Foreign-Born %: The foreign-born share of population. Gateway metros with high immigration sustain rental demand and labor-force renewal independent of domestic migration cycles.

Gini Index: A measure of income inequality from 0 (perfectly equal) to 1 (fully concentrated). Elevated readings flag K-shaped local economies with divergent demand at the top and bottom.
Growth Momentum: A 0–100 index of a market’s growth trajectory — population, employment, income, and price-appreciation trends combined into a forward-leaning momentum read.

HPI (House Price Index): Tracks the pace of residential price appreciation, typically reported year-over-year. Used to gauge price momentum and cycle position.

Income & Education Quality: Wage levels relative to local cost of living — income growth, the wage-to-home-value ratio, and the management/professional share of the workforce.
Insurance Load: The property-insurance cost burden per unit of space. Structurally elevated in high-hazard coastal markets and a direct drag on net operating income.
Investment Score: A 0–100 index of risk-adjusted return potential, blending market fundamentals with current pricing. The flagship sub-index of the composite.

Job Growth (YoY): Year-over-year change in total employment — the most direct leading indicator of housing demand and rent growth.

Market Heat Score: A 0–100 index of transaction velocity — absorption speed, days-on-market, and list-to-sale price ratios. Higher readings indicate a faster, more competitive market.
MF Pipeline %: Multifamily units under construction as a percentage of existing stock. Readings above ~5% signal future oversupply risk that pressures rents and occupancy.

NAIC: The National Association of Insurance Commissioners — the source for insurance-market data such as residual-market (FAIR Plan) participation used to gauge insurance stress.
Net Operating Income (NOI): Annual income a property generates after operating expenses but before debt service, income taxes, and capital expenditures. The numerator of the cap rate.

Office Vacancy: The share of office inventory that is unleased. Elevated vacancy pressures effective rents and is a lagging signal of demand softness.

Percentile Rank: Where a market stands against the full metro pool for a given metric. An 84th-percentile reading means the market ranks above 84% of all tracked metros.
Population Mobility: The share of residents who changed address in the past year. High mobility reflects an active labor market but also elevated tenant turnover for landlords.
Public Safety Score: A 0–100 composite of violent- and property-crime rates relative to national norms, contributing to the Quality of Life index.

Quality of Life: A 0–100 index of livability — public safety, environmental quality, commute and connectivity, and amenity access — that supports durable resident demand.

Rent-to-Income Ratio: Median asking rent divided by median household income — a direct read on affordability stress. Readings above ~35% indicate cost-burdened renters.
Rental Strength: A 0–100 index of multifamily operating health — occupancy, rent growth, and supply absorption — that gauges the durability of rental income.

Social Vulnerability: A measure of a community’s capacity to prepare for and recover from shocks, drawn from socioeconomic, household, and housing factors. Feeds both the Distress and Climate Resilience composites.

Working-Age Inflow %: The share of net in-migrants aged 25–54 — economically productive migration that drives household formation and absorption.

ZHVI: Zillow Home Value Index — a smoothed, seasonally adjusted measure of typical home value across a market, used for home-price trend and YoY appreciation.
ZORI: Zillow Observed Rent Index — a measure of market-rate asking rents, used for rent-trend and rent-growth analysis.

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Every composite and proprietary index is fully documented in the methodology, including weights, sources, and calculation approach.