They could be lying about how many people got the shot too. See, everyone else has gotten it, you better get it too. I'd say the only thing you can really trust these days is your own eyes and ears, when they are not looking at some digital screen.

I'd say as far as gauging the RE market - if your landlord feels confident in jacking up your rent, you're in a hot RE market. If your landlord isn't jacking up your rent, it's treading water or going down. In general landlords don't lower rents, they wait for you to jump ship to someone else undercutting them and then they lower rent to the next guy. So if you see "move in" specials, some other landlord trying to steal you away, that's a soft RE market.