Cost Seg Smart Research

Open-data analysis on cost segregation outcomes, US provider pricing, and depreciation methodology. All releases are CC-BY licensed and free to cite.

Latest Release

Rental Property Opportunity Index 2026 — The Top 50 U.S. Markets

Published July 2026  ·  6,470 markets screened, 399 scored  ·  CC-BY 4.0

A proprietary ranking of U.S. markets on property values, investor and vacation-home ownership density, and investor search demand. The candidate universe is defined by a stated screen over every U.S. Census place and New England town, not a hand-picked list.

  • The top 50 contains two structurally opposite market types that score almost identically: Avalon, NJ is 79.1% second-home and 0.8% long-term rental; Santa Monica is 63.2% long-term rental and 1.5% second-home
  • Scored without a state cap, 22 of the top 50 would sit in California and only 11 states would appear; the published ranking caps each state at 3, bringing in 24 states
  • Median price and depreciable basis are not the same quantity — land is never depreciable, and the gap is widest in the land-constrained coastal metros that rank highest on price
Read the report Download CSV Download JSON
Companion Report

STR Cost Segregation Benchmarks by U.S. Market (2026)

Published May 2026  ·  n = 120 fixtures across 24 markets  ·  CC-BY 4.0

Cross-market analysis of cost segregation outcomes across 24 U.S. STR and investor markets — 120 engine-run fixtures (5 per market) revealing how state tax regime, property archetype, and STR regulatory environment compound to produce 5× variance in Year-1 federal tax savings for otherwise-similar investments.

  • Market medians for Year-1 federal tax savings range from $21,886 (Chicago metro LTR) to $107,473 (30A beach SFR STR) — a 5× spread for the same engine methodology
  • 9 markets are in no-state-income-tax states (federal §168(k) is the entire tax-savings story); 3 are federal-conforming; 12 are decoupled or partially decoupled
  • Resort-tier inventory frequently triggers the engine's premium land floor (~50%) — driving the absolute-dollar / percent-of-purchase ROI tradeoff that shapes buyer decisions
Read the report Download CSV Download JSON
Companion Report

Cost Segregation Benchmarks 2026 (Property-Type Focus)

Published April 30, 2026 · Updated May 12, 2026  ·  n = 412 studies  ·  CC-BY 4.0

The original open-data benchmarks report for the cost segregation industry — focused on per-property-type outcomes across 13 US property types. The per-property-type lens complements the per-market lens of the report above.

  • Furnished STRs reclassify ~63% more depreciable basis than unfurnished SFRs (median 29.8% vs. 18.3%)
  • Year-1 federal tax savings on a $500K STR (37% bracket, 100% bonus): median $43,695
  • US cost segregation pricing ranges from $495 to $15,000+ — a 30× spread for the same IRS-compliant methodology
Read the report Download dataset (CSV) Methodology
Coming Q1 2027

Cost Segregation Benchmarks 2027 (Annual Refresh)

Planned for Q1 2027

Annual refresh of the 2026 dataset with industry-standard 2026 construction cost basis, expanded sample (target n ≥ 250 studies), and additional property type coverage.

Have a question, citation request, or methodology challenge? Email research@costsegsmart.com.