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Understanding DevMap Data — Sources, Coverage, and Freshness

Where DevMap development activity data comes from, how current it is, and what to do when something looks incorrect.

Written by Mikaila McLane

DevMap shows development activity across the country — projects that are planned, under construction, or recently delivered. Here's where that data comes from, how current it is, and what to do if something looks off.

Where DevMap Data Comes From

DevMap aggregates development activity from multiple public and commercial sources, including:

  • Building permit records from local jurisdictions

  • Entitlement and planning application filings

  • Commercial real estate databases tracking project status

  • Public records including subdivision maps and recorded plats

These sources are cross-referenced and deduplicated to produce a single view of development activity at the project level — not just individual permits, but actual projects with stage, product type, and unit count where available.

How Current Is the Data

DevMap data is updated on a rolling basis as new permit records, entitlement filings, and project status changes are processed. Coverage and update frequency vary by geography — major metros with digitized permit systems tend to have more current data than smaller jurisdictions with manual or paper-based processes.

As a general rule, DevMap is most reliable for identifying the presence and stage of significant development activity in a market, and less reliable as a real-time status tracker for any individual project. Use it for market-level pattern recognition — where is development concentrated, where is the pipeline building up, where has activity stalled — rather than precise project-by-project status tracking.

Project Stages in DevMap

DevMap classifies each development into one of three stages:

  • Future — projects that have been entitled, permitted, or are in the planning/approval process but haven't broken ground yet

  • Current — projects actively under construction

  • Recent — projects that have completed construction or delivered within the past few years

Stage classification is based on the most recent data available for each project. A project may move between stages as new information is processed.

What to Do If Something Looks Wrong

If you notice a project that appears to be misclassified, missing, or showing outdated information, reach out via Support inside the platform or contact your account manager. Include the project name or location and what you believe the correct status to be — your team's on-the-ground knowledge of a market is often more current than any data feed, and flagging discrepancies helps improve coverage over time.

Full DevMap analysis is available on Expert and Enterprise plans. Pro plans can locate developments on the map but cannot access project-level details. Not on Expert or Enterprise yet? Talk to your account team.

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