I have never had a client ask about rental activity over the past 12 months - providing detailed sr a chart. It is only of interest to the appraiser if older dated rents we use as comps are higher or lower than newer ones, and that is apparent just from pulling a few rental comps. It is always better to use more recently rented properties, but that is not always possible. Just like sales, rental lease rates can also vary between properties and not always for a clear reason. We can give a summary of market conditions for rents, and if the past activity is relevant, we can include it in our analysis.
People should take more time understanding their markets and talking to agents and landlords rather than so much time making charts and looking at statistics.
" Demand has fallen for rents because X corporation closed, or demand has risen for rents blue X option open dreary" makes a lot more sense to a reader than lines or graphs on a chart with the appraiser clueless about why, or including data that is not relevant and can be misleading.