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One of the many reasons residential property management is so interesting is that experiences vary widely. You could ask a property manager from California and one from Texas or Florida the same question and get two completely different answers.
For example, some of you reading this had an awesome year growth wise in 2025. The unfavorable seller’s market drove owners to your open arms and your door count went up and to the right. But for others, management leads were way down in 2025, and growth was flat or hard-won. From what I’ve heard, the latter is the more common story.
Management leads were down overall
I’ll reference Peter Lohmann’s blog on this topic quite a bit because he’s done a great job collecting data.
In his post, Peter cites RentScale’s Scoreboard, which tracks lead volume and doors added as reported by their customers (they run the largest property management sales community in the country). They looked at average lead volume from 2023-2025 and confirmed what many property managers have suspected.
Leads are way down.
2023 average monthly leads was 28.6
2024 was 21.1
2025 was 15.7
That’s a 45% decrease in two years…
I’m not a statistician, but I think it’s safe to take this data as indicative of what the industry has experienced overall.
They’ll go down more in 2026
Peter recently had Evernest Founder & CEO, Matthew Whitaker, on his podcast and they touched on the topic (fantastic episode by the way). Evernest operates out of many markets, so I think Matt has a good estimation of the state of the industry.
At the one hour mark, he makes a guess that I think is as good as any. He cites recent reporting that shows over 1.5 million single-family homes left the rental market between 2016 and 2023. Combine that with the nation’s inventory crisis and the current market conditions that are converting lots of SFRs to owner-occupied, and there are just way fewer rentals on the market than in 2023 and earlier.
If this analysis is right, and the housing situation in the US doesn’t improve, then leads will likely continue to go down in 2026.
What to do?
When you can’t look outwards for growth, the only other option is to look inward. This means it’s time to drop door count as a priority metric. It’s mostly for vanity anyways. What really matters is that your bottom line grows, not necessarily door count.
Instead, prioritize Average Revenue Per Client and your churn rates (unit churn and client churn). Focus on improving the owner experience, growing current client portfolios, optimizing ancillary fees, and rolling out premium services. If you can generate more revenue from current clients AND keep them around for longer, you’ll be more profitable, less stressed, and lead flow won’t matter as much.
On the other hand
Check out this recent video from Marc Cunningham for an opposing perspective.
If you want to stop losing clients and generate more revenue without buying more leads, it’s time to talk. Blanket is the only platform that offers a solution to both.
About Blanket
Blanket is transforming the property management industry with its innovative platform that helps property managers grow their portfolios and retain owners. By combining AI-powered insights, automated lead generation, and seamless integration with existing property management software, Blanket provides property managers with the tools they need to succeed. Blanket is backed by leading Venture Capital Funds like Foundation Capital, Symbol, Operator Partners, RE Angels, and industry-leading Angel investors. Together, we’re shaping the future of property management.
