8.6.5.2Vertical

Market Research & Feasibility

Firms providing real estate market studies and feasibility reports.

Market snapshot

These figures describe Real Estate Consulting & Advisory (8.6.5), the segment that Market Research & Feasibility sits within. They are not figures for Market Research & Feasibility on its own.

Market size
~$26B
Growth
~8.8%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~21,244 firms
Firms by employee count

97% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 20,609 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe635 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
47374%
100–499
9715%
500+
6510%

Advisory work that is not tied to a transaction closing, which makes it the least cyclical revenue in brokerage. Demand rises when portfolios need repositioning, which is precisely when the transaction side is quiet.

NAICS 531390. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Advisory, research, and real-estate-service fees

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$1,219,053
Revenue per employee
$319,699
Employees per firm
3.5
Recurring revenue
Moderate

recurring research and advisory relationships

EBITDA margin
Professional- and data-services economics
Capex intensity
Low

Characteristics

  • Balanced cost base: payroll is 28% of revenue, leaving room to scale margin without cutting staff
  • Moderate strategic-buyer pool: 65 firms exceed 500 employees, so a scaled asset has buyers, but not many
  • Investment/transaction advisory, research, and feasibility.
  • Driven by real-estate decision complexity.
  • Intertwined with CRE-services and data platforms.

NAICS 531390. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Geographic concentration

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareHawaiiIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode IslandDistrict of ColumbiaUtah

Utah and the District of Columbia form an unusual pairing that reflects two different demands: fast-growth development advisory in one, and federal and institutional portfolio work in the other.

UtahDistrict of Columbia

U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses (firms by state), NAICS 531390. Concentration shown by location quotient.

M&A deal context

Deal activityModerate

Who’s acquiring

  • CRE-services advisory platforms
  • Specialist consultancies & data firms
  • PE-backed platforms

What’s driving deals

  • Advisory-platform consolidation.
  • Capital-markets and decision-support demand.
  • Data and research integration.

Find Market Research & Feasibility acquisition targets

Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Market Research & Feasibility (8.6.5.2) and build a targeted deal pipeline.

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