Counts get published by leasing platforms, from their own books. Two neutral documents below give figures you can recompute: NAA reported 1,183 tours producing 457 leases at a 700-home Michigan portfolio in 2017, or 2.6 showings per signed lease; a REIT's SEC filing works out to 3.1 to 4.2 tours per move-in. Count yours.
Who Publishes a Showings-per-Lease Count?
Leasing platforms do, out of their own data: one vendor's tours, its own definition of a filled unit, and a mix of self-guided and agent-led showings that isn't yours. Worth reading, not a series you can audit or reproduce. What you can check yourself is narrower. NAA published one operator's 2017 numbers in May 2018: "1,183 tours converted at 38.65 percent to 457 leases." A count, and it checks two ways: 1,183 ÷ 457 = 2.59, and inverting the rate (1 ÷ 0.3865) returns the same 2.59. Scope: 20 Class B communities totalling 700 apartment homes across Michigan, one year.
Which Denominator Are You Comparing?
The figures below use three. NexPoint Residential Trust's Q1 2026 supplemental, Exhibit 99.1 to its April 28, 2026 Form 8-K, publishes Tours, Self-Guided Tours, Move-ins and a "Tour to Application Conversion" row at 36.8%. Divide tours by move-ins across the four quarters to Q1 2026 and you get 4,757 ÷ 1,130 = 4.2 down to 3,597 ÷ 1,146 = 3.1. Move-ins are not signatures, so that is a neighbouring metric, not the same one.
| Metric | Figure | Source and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Completed tours ÷ signed leases | 2.6 | NAA, May 2018: one operator, 20 Class B communities / 700 homes, Michigan, 2017 |
| Tours ÷ move-ins | 3.1 to 4.2 | NexPoint Residential Trust 8-K exhibit, April 2026: four quarters to Q1 2026, Sun Belt apartments |
| In-person tours per renter | 1 typical, 19% took none | Zillow, 2024 renter report: recent renters within a 21,000+ renter survey, per person across every home considered |
Three denominators: a lease, a move-in, a person. Averaging them produces a number that measures nothing. Carry the label with the figure.
Why Isn't the Renter's Tour Count Your Ratio?
Because it counts per person. Conflating the two is the standard mistake. Zillow's 2024 Consumer Housing Trends Report (five nationally representative surveys, 21,000+ renters, fielded April to July 2023) found the typical recent renter took one in-person tour and 19% took none. Yours is per unit. If one tour covers a whole search, most visits to a vacancy are likely different people, which points the work at tour-to-application conversion, not at more bookings. Applications went the other way: 66% of recent renters submitted two or more in 2023, up nine points from 57%. A lease signed by someone who never toured pushes your ratio down for reasons unrelated to your team.
How Do You Count Your Own?
Divide showings by leases signed over the same calendar month, then write your definitions down: definitions are what separate the two figures above. One counts completed tours, the other move-ins, and counting scheduled showings lets every no-show inflate the result. Does a no-show count? It consumed the slot, so usually yes. A renewal? It needed no tour, so leave it out. A two-person self-showing, one or two? Pick one and stay with it. Watch the trend, not the level: a climbing ratio usually points at price, listing quality, or scheduling.
What Does Each Extra Showing Cost?
A coordination text or call, a drive, a wait on site, a no-show risk. At 2.6 per signature, roughly three visits plus reschedules sit behind every lease. Our cost-per-showing breakdown prices that labour, counting scheduled showings rather than completed tours (the definition gap above, in dollars). Self-showings with bank-level ID verification remove the drive-and-wait half for staff: renters tour on their own schedule, verified before access. Answering inquiries in about 30 seconds by text, chat or phone keeps a serious renter from touring a competing listing first.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many showings does it take to sign one rental lease?
The figure you can recompute is 2.6: NAA published 1,183 tours converting to 457 leases at a 700-home Michigan portfolio in 2017. A Sun Belt REIT's April 2026 filing gives 3.1 to 4.2 tours per move-in, which is a different denominator. Both are single portfolios, so count your own.
Who publishes showings-per-lease benchmarks?
Leasing platforms publish counts out of their own books of business (one vendor's tours, its own definitions, a tour mix that isn't yours), so it isn't a series you can audit. Neutral documents exist, one portfolio at a time: an association case study measured tours ÷ leases, an SEC filing lets you divide tours by move-ins.
Is a renter's tour count the same as showings per lease?
No. A renter's tour count is per person, across every home they considered; Zillow puts the typical recent renter at one in-person tour and 19% at none. Showings-per-lease is per unit, and most of those visits are likely different people. So the ratio tracks tour-to-application conversion, not renter indecision.
How can property managers lower their showings-per-lease ratio?
Answer inquiries within seconds, so serious renters don't tour another listing first. Qualify before booking, so low-intent requests don't consume slots. Confirm every appointment to cut no-shows. Let renters self-tour instead of waiting on staff availability. Then recheck monthly to see which change actually moved it.
