Apartment Search Statistics Prove Dogs More Desirable Than Cats

September 23rd, 2009 by Matt DiChiara| Posted in Facts & Figures, Renting with Pets | 6 Comments »

It has long been debated amongst pet owners which species best accompanies man in his domestic dwelling. It has been an intense and unrelenting debate most likely due to the fact that– as in academic politics–the contention is so vicious precisely because the stakes are so low. We would now like to submit the results of a recent survey; during the recent recession, searches for cat friendly apartments dropped much more than did searches for dog friendly apartments, therefore indicating that when the going gets tough, the cats get going.

We recently conducted a study of our internal search data, which we run each quarter. The report shows for which amenities and property features renters are searching. Below is the MyNewPlace search results page with amenity search filters highlighted below by the red circle as well as the major category filters of number of beds, number of bathrooms, property type (rental home, condo, apartment) and the filter to which this post is dedicated, pet friendly apartments.

So, if a renter searching for Atlanta apartments (pictured above) above wanted to filter their results to search for a pet friendly apartment with high speed internet, a dishwasher and a playground, the search results page and map would show only apartments that fit that criteria. Our amenity report can determine the number of these types of instances each quarter and then track how search trends are changing over time.

One especially interesting period that we wanted to track changes over was the time since the beginning of the recession, which technically began in December 2007. While we did see many changes in search trends from that time until our latest recorded data (Q2 2009), one of the most interesting changes was how the number of pet searches changed.

Taking both a national median value as well as examining trends in 35 of the nation’s top metros, it appears incontrovertible that while searches for cat friendly apartments dropped across the board, searches for dog friendly apartments remained relatively stable.

The conclusions that can be drawn from this are pretty obvious. When faced with financial hardship and economic uncertainty, cats don’t quite make it inside the wagon circle. Apparently dogs are considered more “family members” than are cats. A harsh reality, perhaps, but these numbers are difficult to dispute.

In somewhat related news, I am moving to a 3 bedroom apartment to save on rent, anyone want to adopt this cat?