Terminal guide
What every tab does, and when to use it.
The Terminal menu at the top of every page holds the whole system. Here's a five-minute narrated tour, followed by a plain-English summary of each tab.
If you only do four things
01
Find your market's phase
Open the Cycle Clock and enter a ZIP code. You'll see which of the four phases that market is in, and which signals are pushing it there.
02
Save the ZIP codes you care about
Add your markets under My ZIP Codes on this page. Your dashboard snapshot then tracks them for you every time you log in.
03
Check what's turning
Signals shows what changed recently and where leading indicators are pulling away from the trend. That's the early warning.
04
Put it to work on a deal
Run a property through the Underwriter, or add your assets to Portfolio to benchmark them against their local market.
Read the market
Dashboard
Your home base: a live snapshot of the markets you track, your indicator watchlist, and shortcuts into every tool.
USE IT TO: START EVERY SESSION HERE.
Signals
What's changing right now: indicators diverging from their trend, recent turns, and the alerts worth acting on.
USE IT TO: CHECK WEEKLY FOR EARLY WARNINGS.
Cycle Clock
Places the national economy and any ZIP code on the four-phase cycle (Recovery, Expansion, Hypersupply, Contraction) and shows the signals behind the call.
USE IT TO: ANSWER "WHERE ARE WE?" FOR ANY MARKET.
Indicators
PROThe full library of leading and trailing indicators, from rates and jobs to permits, absorption and rents, with history and detail on each.
USE IT TO: DIG INTO THE WHY BEHIND A PHASE CALL.
Market Maps
PROEvery major metro scored and ranked on fundamentals, down to submarket level.
USE IT TO: COMPARE MARKETS AND FIND WHERE TO LOOK NEXT.
Forecasts
PROForward projections for rents, vacancy and the leading indicators, market by market.
USE IT TO: SET REALISTIC ASSUMPTIONS FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
Indices
PROPublic-market stocks grouped by the forces moving housing (REITs, builders, lenders, suppliers), read as a confirmation signal.
USE IT TO: SEE WHETHER WALL STREET AGREES WITH THE DATA.
Research
PROCanary, the research desk: ask a question in plain English and get an answer grounded in Cignal's data, plus deep-dive briefings.
USE IT TO: TURN THE DATA INTO A THESIS.
Community
PROThe Cignal Room: members-only live discussion of the signals and the cycle.
USE IT TO: PRESSURE-TEST YOUR READ WITH OTHER OPERATORS.
Workbench
Underwriter
PROType a market or ZIP and the model's forward assumptions fill in from the live cycle read: rent growth, vacancy, exit cap and more.
USE IT TO: UNDERWRITE A DEAL TO THE CYCLE, NOT TO HOPE.
Tools
PROLitmus Test, the full Underwriting Model, Budget Builder, Market One-Pager, Exit Strategy Analyzer, Portfolio Architect, Market Screener and more.
USE IT TO: DOWNLOAD OR OPEN THE WORKING TOOLS.
Portfolio
PROEnter your properties and track them month over month against live rents, concessions and occupancy in their submarket.
USE IT TO: KNOW HOW YOUR ASSETS STACK UP LOCALLY.