Are there any good data sources that look at pricing of real estate by category (apartment, office, hotel), location, and perhaps over time (i.e. what things look like now versus 5,10,15,20 years ago)?
While pricing in and of itself is not terribly valuable (Is a $200,000 house cheap or expensive? It depends…), comparisons of pricing can indicate possible overheated/underheated markets.
But more particularly, if I’m considering longer term investments, I’d be interested in cap. rates, so I can make some semi-plausible estimate of what long term returns might be for an unleveraged buy and hold.