Key Takeaways

• Strong investment decisions often come from spotting demand shifts before they show up in pricing.
• Submarket trends can reveal opportunities that broad metro-level data may overlook.
• Faster research helps investors spend more time evaluating deals and less time gathering information.
• Market Analytics combines CRE-specific data and AI-generated reporting inside a single workflow.
• Comparing submarkets side by side can help investors prioritize markets with stronger fundamentals.

Some of the most important market shifts happen before they show up in pricing. Demand may be growing in one submarket while another begins to slow. That can create very different opportunities within the same metro.

Crexi Market Analytics is an AI-powered market intelligence system within Crexi Intelligence. It combines Crexi transaction data with public and third-party sources to help investors compare submarkets, track demand trends, and create market reports faster.

Investors can use these insights to spot changes in demand before they are fully reflected in pricing.

Why Submarket Trends Matter for CRE Investors

Metro-level statistics can provide useful context, but they rarely show where demand is actually moving. Within the same city, submarkets often follow very different paths. One area may be attracting new tenants and posting positive absorption. At the same time, another can be facing rising vacancy or slower leasing activity.

Those differences can affect how investors approach a deal. They may influence when to buy, how aggressively to price a property, or how long to hold an asset.

Some of the clearest signals come from the demand side of the market:

• Leasing activity
• Tenant movement
• Net absorption
• Rent direction
• Active deal flow

Together, these commercial real estate submarket trends can show whether momentum is building, slowing, or shifting to another part of the metro.

By tracking those signals at the submarket level, investors can pinpoint emerging opportunities earlier. An investor can then make decisions based on where momentum is building, not where the broader market has already arrived.

Why Traditional CRE Market Research Slows Investors Down

Most market research workflows are still fragmented.

Investors often gather information from multiple places before they can assess a market. Data may live in brokerage reports, spreadsheets, public records, and separate software platforms. Pulling everything together takes time, and the work often starts over each time a new market enters the pipeline.

That extra effort can slow underwriting and make market comparisons harder. It can also create more work when preparing investment committee materials. Traditional reports can add another challenge. Some are already dated when they reach investors. Others can be too broad to support submarket-level decisions.

Timing matters. By the time research is collected, organized, and reviewed, the most attractive deals may already be drawing attention from other buyers.

Market Analytics helps reduce that friction by bringing market intelligence into a single workflow. This makes it significantly easier to move from research to insight without rebuilding the same analysis every time.

What Crexi Market Analytics Does Inside Crexi Intelligence

Crexi Market Analytics is an AI-powered tool within Crexi Intelligence. It is designed to help investors research markets and create reports.

Users can generate:

• Market reports
• Submarket analysis
• Charts and trend summaries
• Exportable PDFs

Reports include data from Crexi as well as public and third-party sources. They can also be edited and customized before export.

Unlike generic AI tools, Market Analytics is designed around commercial real estate workflows. The platform connects market research, submarket analysis, and report generation in a single streamlined workflow.

Step 1: Select the Market, Property Type, Submarket, and Timeframe

The first step is defining the market you want to analyze.

Before reviewing trends, investors should select the relevant asset type and narrow the search to a specific submarket and timeframe. Starting with the right filters helps ensure the data aligns with the investment strategy.

This is also a useful way to compare primary markets with secondary or emerging opportunities. Rather than relying on broad market averages, investors can focus on the demand signals that matter most to a specific investment thesis.

Step 2: Review Demand Signals Across the Submarket

Once the market is defined, attention should shift to demand.

Using Crexi Market Analytics, investors can review demand metrics such as:

• Vacancy rate
• Average NNN rent
• Net absorption
• Leasing activity
• Share of market activity

These metrics can help show where demand is gaining momentum and where it may be starting to slow.

For example, one submarket may be signing more leases while nearby areas see little change. That can be an early sign that demand is shifting. Vacancy and absorption data can help confirm whether more space is actually being occupied. 

CRE submarket analysis can help investors determine which deals are worth pursuing before moving into detailed underwriting .

Step 3: Compare Submarkets Against Each Other

Looking at a single submarket only tells part of the story. Market Analytics allows investors to compare key indicators across multiple areas within the same market, including:

• Vacancy
• Rent growth
• Absorption
• Leasing activity

These comparisons often reveal trends that market-wide averages can miss.

For example, one industrial submarket may be attracting more tenants. At the same time, another could be seeing more available space. Those differences can help investors identify where demand is strongest and where conditions may be starting to cool.

Investors can use that information to focus on submarkets that better match their investment strategy.

Step 4: Generate a Market Report in Minutes

Once the analysis is complete, investors can generate either an executive summary or a comprehensive market report.

Market Analytics automatically builds the report structure, narrative, charts, and supporting analysis using Crexi proprietary data blended with trusted sources.

Reports can support:

• Deal screening
• Market entry research
• Investment memos
• Underwriting support
• Committee preparation

Instead of spending hours assembling market information manually, investors can move directly into review and decision-making.

Step 5: Customize the Report for the Investment Thesis

Generating a report is only part of the process. Investors still need to shape the analysis around the property in question.

With Crexi, users can edit narratives, reorder sections, remove unnecessary content, and adjust the depth or timeframe of the report. Investors can also add their own market knowledge, portfolio strategy, or deal-specific assumptions.

Once finalized, reports can be exported as polished PDFs for internal review or external distribution.

This step helps turn market data into a report that supports real investment decisions.

How Investors Can Use Market Analytics Before a Deal Hits the Shortlist

Many investors use Market Analytics earlier to identify markets and submarkets worth watching.

Comparing demand, leasing activity, and absorption can help show where momentum is building. This can be especially valuable in secondary markets, where market information may be harder to find.

That context can help investors decide where to focus their time. When a deal enters review, much of the market research has already been done. 

How Market Analytics Supports Underwriting and Forecasting

Submarket trends should help shape assumptions, not simply provide background information.

When considering a deal, investors can compare their projections against current market conditions. Market Analytics helps track changes in:

• Vacancy
• Rent growth
• Absorption
• Leasing activity

Those signals can help investors gauge:

• Projected rents
• Lease-up timelines
• Exit timing
• Downside scenarios

The reports can also support underwriting and forecasting throughout the review process. Investors can use current submarket data to determine whether their assumptions still make sense.

How Brokers Can Use Market Analytics to Support Investor Conversations

Brokers can use Market Analytics to add market research to presentations and investor conversations.

Different report types can support different needs:

• Executive summaries for presentations and initial discussions
• Comprehensive reports for deeper market analysis

These reports can help investors understand why a submarket is worth considering and provide useful context for investment decisions.

For investors, stronger market materials can reduce research time and speed up deal evaluation.

Why Market Analytics Is Different From Generic AI Tools

Many AI tools can help organize information, but market research requires more than a well-written summary. Investors need to know:

• Where the data comes from
• Whether it reflects current market conditions
• How it fits into the broader underwriting process

Market Analytics brings those pieces together by combining market data, reporting, and analysis within the same workflow. Reports are sourced, editable, and designed for market analysis rather than general content generation.

For investors, that distinction is important. Market research requires reliable data and local market context, not just a faster way to produce a narrative.

How to Build Market Analytics Into an Investor Workflow

Crexi’s Market Analytics is most useful when it becomes part of a repeatable research process rather than a one-time report request.

Many investors use it at three key stages:

• Market screening
• Deal underwriting
• Investment memo preparation

Reports can also be compared over time. This helps investors monitor demand trends across the submarkets they follow. 

Explore Crexi Intelligence to see how Market Analytics can help you move from research to investor-ready deliverables faster than ever.

FAQs

What is Crexi Market Analytics?

Market Analytics is an AI-powered tool within Crexi Intelligence that helps users research commercial real estate markets and create reports. It combines Crexi data with public and third-party sources to provide a clearer view of market conditions.

How does Market Analytics help investors?

Market Analytics helps investors compare submarkets, track demand trends, and understand local market conditions. It can also support market research, underwriting, and investment decisions by bringing data and reporting into one place.

What data does Market Analytics include?

Market Analytics includes market and submarket data such as:

• Vacancy
• Rent trends
• Absorption
• Leasing activity

Reports also include charts and written summaries that help users understand how market conditions are changing.

Can Market Analytics generate reports automatically?

Yes. Users can generate executive summaries or detailed market reports in minutes. Reports can be edited, customized, and exported. This makes it easier to move from market research to a finished deliverable.

How is Market Analytics different from other commercial real estate market data tools?

Market Analytics combines Crexi transaction data with public and third-party sources inside a CRE-focused workflow. Users can research markets, compare submarkets, and create reports in one place instead of switching between multiple tools.

Can brokers use Market Analytics too?

Yes. Brokers can use Market Analytics to support presentations, market overviews, and investor conversations.