If you're tasked with land development and design, you already know how important it is to have access to data relevant to product, place, price and promotion. Gaining research insights that apply to land planning pursuits helps reduce risk, discover new opportunities and establish value. Having any of the four Ps out of line can result in a master-planned community that takes years to sell, missing the mark on potential profits.

For community developers looking to maximize land use while staying within budget and maximizing profit, the question isn't whether to invest in research. It's how early and how deeply to integrate research intelligence into your decision-making process.

Research is vital to the success of any business. Still, it is especially critical before embarking on a master-planned community as some factors, like the purchase price or location, can't be changed after the land purchase.

Effective real estate research helps land planners and master-planned community developers select land that is practical and capable of producing profitable results. Research firms are an undeniable asset in critically assessing the existing and potential value of land opportunities.

Here are the benefits research firms offer land planners in the early stages of master-planned community development, setting them up for successful sales and marketing campaigns and long-term financial performance.

What Is a Real Estate Research Firm?

A real estate research firm is a strategic partner that provides expert advice, research and analysis on property investments, planning and development. They can provide master-planned community developers with complete reports on their findings, including property assessments, data on housing trends and comprehensive market intelligence that shapes every stage of development.

These firms can plot your planned development against resale and new homes in the same area and determine if the home size and pricing are appropriate. They can also project absorption rates, which matters significantly. There's a substantial difference between a five-year sellout and a community that takes 20 years to build out.

What Research Firms Deliver

The capabilities of research firms have evolved dramatically, particularly with the integration of AI and advanced analytics. Some of the benefits of working with a real estate research firm include:

Comprehensive Data: Easy-to-read data influencing housing, including monthly and annual historical trends, current market conditions and forward-looking projections.

Visual Storytelling: Data on trends and market shifts can be easily interpreted and visualized through heat maps, charts and graphs that make complex information accessible.

Succinct Analysis: Understand where the market is in the housing cycle and the latest conditions through curated and insightful housing analysis that cuts through the noise.

Exportable Data: Data can be shared quickly and effortlessly through Excel-ready information for homebuilding. This makes it easier to dive deeper into numbers when necessary and generate investment packages for stakeholders.

AI-Powered Insights: Advanced AI analytics tools now analyze extensive datasets to deliver accurate and unbiased valuations, predict market fluctuations and identify emerging opportunities with unprecedented speed and accuracy.

Why Master-Planned Communities Need Real Estate Research Intelligence

Once a master-planned community developer identifies a site, they need to understand how it will accomplish their vision. This is where real estate research firms come in handy with the latest trends, data, advice and recommendations to assist you in achieving that vision and maximizing opportunities with that site.

Although certain sites may appear to be highly profitable opportunities based on intuition, evaluating the potential long-term success takes time and rigorous analysis. Economic and demographic factors can cause substantial shifts in land value that impact its stability, growth and potential decline in appeal. Without a research firm, it is difficult to accurately assess the actual value of the land related to the vision for the new home community.

Current Market Context

The current market environment makes research more critical than ever. According to RCLCO, new home sales among the 50 top-selling master-planned communities were down 6.6% at mid-year 2025 compared to the pace set by top communities in the first half of 2024. Economic uncertainty, weak consumer sentiment and continued affordability challenges are contributing to a cooling new home market.

However, the same research reveals an important insight: many of these top-ranked communities still outperform the national average. Communities with comparable data from last year showed a more modest average decline of 4%, highlighting how consumers seek safety in master-planned community environments, trusting their investment will be protected against broader market fluctuations.

This disparity between overall market performance and well-positioned master-planned communities underscores why research-driven development decisions matter. The communities that perform well are those that understand their markets deeply and position their offerings accordingly.

Real estate research firms have specialized experts to provide information and analysis. Going it alone means you risk inaccuracies, mistakes and wasting valuable funds on preventable errors.

Critical Reasons Research Firms Drive Success

Minimized investment risk: Comprehensive market analysis identifies potential pitfalls before capital is committed.

Facilitates strategic planning: Data-driven insights enable smarter decisions about product mix, pricing and phasing.

Identify threats and opportunities: Early warning systems for market shifts and competitive dynamics.

Save time on data collection: Let experts handle the heavy lifting of gathering and validating market intelligence.

Evaluate your business' success for continued growth: Ongoing research tracks performance against projections and identifies optimization opportunities.

Ability to stay ahead of the competition: Access to proprietary data and analytical capabilities that competitors may lack.

The Expanding Role of Real Estate Research in Master-Planned Community Marketing Success

Research is generally significant to businesses because it allows decision-makers to take what’s been learned and make informed and educated decisions. In master-planned community marketing and development, real estate research firms do this and more. Rather than deciphering data insights yourself, research firms perform the heavy lifting to deliver the information you need to set your real estate brand and land development up for success.

In addition to aligning with the real estate branding strategy, here are eight significant roles research firms play in the success of a master-planned community:

1. Competitive Market Analysis

Understanding the competition is vital for any business, but it is essential for master-planned community development to stay ahead. Firms provide competitive analysis to understand what other developers are delivering and better position a community within the market.

More specifically, understanding pricing and square footage relative to the competition helps identify opportunities and unmet needs in the housing market. For example, current research shows that the 1,500- to 2,500-square-foot segment shows the strongest absorption rates, driven primarily by affordability concerns. This data point alone can reshape product strategy.

2. Refine Search Area and Site Selection

Regarding land planning for new master-planned communities, location is critical. Understanding homebuyer segments and market dynamics offers valuable insight into where to buy and what to build. The appeal and desirability of specific sites depend highly on potential buyers, the neighborhood itself and accompanying local resources such as education, healthcare, retail, recreation and entertainment.

Working with a real estate research firm helps determine which sites are profitable investments that offer valuable appeal for target buyers and are predicted to have a strong growth trajectory. Although it may seem easy to guess which locations are best for establishing communities with sizable profits, digging deeper with comprehensive data provides higher odds of success.

AI-powered platforms now analyze geospatial data, demographic trends and economic indicators to identify emerging hotspots and market opportunities with greater precision than traditional methods. This technology enables developers to assess risks like inflation, economic conditions and even global events that could impact long-term performance.

3. Identify Emerging Trends and Demographic Shifts

Demographic shifts in age, income and homebuying behavior, along with economic changes within an area, can significantly impact the demand for new homes. It's crucial to stay ahead of those trends to develop thriving new home communities strategically.

Real estate market research plays a vital role in identifying the market and buyer trends that affect the success of a master-planned community. Research firms can offer your company influential insight into homebuyer purchasing patterns and demand levels to reduce risk and maximize opportunities to create value.

4. Reach the Right Buyers with Precision

Marketing your master-planned community successfully requires an intuitive understanding of your target buyer. But first, you must ensure you're reaching the ideal buyers for your master-planned community based on your offerings, development location and community differentiators.

Research firms help you develop target audience profiles to inform overall community and product designs. After identifying various target audience profiles, research these individuals' unique lifestyles, needs and desires to determine how your community can deliver offerings with compelling appeal.

Developing Effective Personas

Once the marketing process starts for the master-planned community, you can take this a step further by developing personas for marketing your new home community. This begins after you have thoroughly researched the target audience. Real estate personas help the marketing team better understand the target audience and cater to their unique needs and desires.

To develop effective real estate personas, consider these steps:

Gather demographic information: Collect and analyze demographic data for your target audience, such as age, gender, location, education, income, marital status and other relevant factors. This information helps understand the audience's background and identify common patterns.

Identify psychographic traits: Beyond demographics, delve into your audience's psychographic characteristics, including values, lifestyle, interests and motivations. These traits offer deeper insight into their decision-making process and how your master-planned community can appeal to them.

Create fictional personas: Based on your research, create fictional individuals representing the target audience's typical traits, desires and needs. Ensure that each persona is distinct and representative of a specific segment within your audience.

Develop personalized marketing strategies: With the personas in hand, craft tailored marketing strategies and tactics that resonate with each persona's unique needs and desires. This allows you to reach and engage your target audience effectively.

Continuously refine your personas: As your marketing efforts progress and your community evolves, continue to refine your personas based on feedback and new insights. Stay flexible and be willing to adapt your strategies as needed.

By incorporating real estate personas into your marketing approach, you better understand the target audience and develop strategies that resonate with them. This enables you to attract and engage potential buyers effectively, ultimately setting your community apart from the competition.

5. Product Mix Recommendations Based on Market Demand

Every site offers unique benefits that can be uncovered and showcased to buyers through insightful land planning. However, this starts by selecting the best products to complement and incite intrigue. Today's buyers value connection to the outdoors, flex space and quality finishes in a home, as well as walkability and amenities that allow them to explore nature.

A housing research firm will review the new home community's planned product mix and amenities and make recommendations to be competitive. According to research from John Burns, 53% of developers are shifting to smaller lot sizes for detached homes to increase affordability, and 42% of developers include or are planning build-to-rent communities in their master-planned communities.

These shifts reflect changing market realities. Research helps developers understand not just what buyers say they want, but what they're actually purchasing and at what price points. This distinction matters enormously when capital allocation decisions are being made.

6. Price Point Analysis and Competitive Positioning

Based on comprehensive market studies, real estate research firms recommend pricing your product relative to the competition and resale homes. They deliver a comprehensive report providing price point analysis and expert recommendations on how to best price your product so it isn't too high or low, but perfectly competitive.

This also helps you set a price point that will likely be profitable for the community in the long term. In a market where buyer traffic has suffered significantly due to economic uncertainty and weak consumer sentiment, accurate pricing becomes even more critical.

7. Complete ROI Guidelines and Performance Tracking

To achieve the desired return on investment, you typically must follow a basic guideline: "If you sell X number of Y products at a price point of Z, you will achieve ROI." It's simple, straightforward and exactly what you need to know to ensure you're not only getting a good return on your investment but also maximizing potential ROI.

Working with a real estate research firm helps your team fill in those blanks and consistently remain on track to hit your intended sales goals. Beyond initial projections, ongoing research allows you to track actual performance against projections, identify variances early and make mid-course corrections when market conditions shift.

8. Accuracy Through Advanced Technology

To be successful, the data needs to be accurate. Research firms have all the best technology, experts and practices on their teams, obtaining and sifting through important data for you and your business.

Currently, 36% of firms in the real estate sector globally report using AI, and this number is expected to soar to 90% by 2030. The builders and developers that invest in real estate research partnerships gain access to these advanced capabilities without having to build them internally.

Don't make a million-dollar mistake or gamble with investor money. Give your new home community the best start possible by partnering with experts who have the technology, data and analytical capabilities to guide smart decisions.

The Bottom Line: Research as Strategic Investment

It's challenging to market a master-planned community in a saturated industry with many buyer options. Real estate research firms help you understand market impacts, changing trends and how to adjust strategies to mitigate risk while maximizing opportunity.

The question for developers is simple: Do you want to make decisions based on intuition and assumptions, or do you want to leverage comprehensive data intelligence that reduces risk and identifies opportunities your competitors might miss?

In a market characterized by uncertainty, weak consumer sentiment and regional performance variations, the developers who invest in research gain clarity while others operate in the fog. That clarity translates directly into better site selection, smarter product design, more accurate pricing and ultimately, stronger financial performance.

Partnering with the real estate and home builder marketing specialists at Milesbrand ensures that every investment of yours reaches the right buyer at the right time and is maximized to its full potential. Our strategic approach integrates research intelligence with creative branding and comprehensive marketing to create master-planned communities that don't just sell homes but build lasting value.

Ready to leverage research intelligence to make smarter development decisions? Get started with our team today and discover how data-driven insights can transform your next master-planned community from concept to sellout success.