In the modern world, data is one of the key tools for real estate players in their decision-making process. There are real estate solutions available that can help your organization in making smart decisions related to property investments. Everything from quicker and more correct property valuation to sophisticated forecasting is possible by using these tools. But there might be difficulties in obtaining real estate data. Many times, there is a disconnection between data availability and the capability to harness it fast to get actionable insights.
Criteria
There are six criteria generally speaking for the collection of international real estate data. These criteria have to be satisfied with the statistical viewpoint. These criteria include representativeness, unchanging and unbroken description, regular availability, homogeneous comparability, data frequency, and length of the series. In a perfect setup, the data for all the countries will always be available. It should have the same measurement parameters, and must not have any breaks in the series. It should also be available monthly. Different organizations have made provisions to turn this into reality. They have instructed the concerned companies to make sure that you are getting comprehensive and timely multifamily data for your sound policies.
Regular availability of data
Some kind of data has to be available, and more importantly, it needs to be updated regularly. However, this might be difficult and the best hope is that original data sources are mentioned in the report, and the data can be obtained regularly. Unfortunately, for most international institutions, this data collection depends on the understanding and goodwill of commercial data providers and real estate associations. Experience shows that there is every possibility of disruption in this case. The data that is ideally sought is many times tempered with.
Representativeness
The data you have obtained has to be a representation of the values in the present times. However, this can also be a delicate problem. Possibly, the price of a home will not include the toilet outside. But it may have many bathrooms inside. Similarly, the modern offices may have IT facilities that were considered to be a part of science fiction movies a generation ago. These upgrades need to reflect in the indices. What is representative for one country might not be the same for another. Even in the case of a country what is representative of one region may not be applicable to another.
Comparability
It is neighed impossible that data for one group of countries will be comparable to another in all aspects. The methods used for collecting data might vary in many cases and can influence the results. For instance, you can survey by getting in touch with real estate agents that are members of a specific organization. This might not be sufficient in overall representation for some countries. In some cases, the agencies will be asked questions about the information, depending on the mortgages they grant. In these cases, the cash transactions are not included.
Continuity
Another significant criterion for continual assessment is continuity. This is one of the more common problems faced by statisticians. There is always a possibility that some source may dry up and has to be replaced by another. This alternative resource is always going to differ in terms of definition if not frequency. Data obtained from the same resource can suddenly vary. Another reason for this problem is that the source in many cases is not the main collector of data. It can just be a disseminating body or a collator. Surprisingly, many times the breaks in the series result in an improvement in data quality.
Conclusion
The first and foremost thing in obtaining real estate data is better and more data. You will find that there is a remarkable dearth of data available on real estate prices despite the established role they play in the financial crises. They also influence the business cycle significantly. The gathering of data had been left to the initiatives of private companies. This is always going to lead to the companies tailoring the data to their necessities. Taking into consideration the public benefit that can be achieved from the data, the official sector must place an effort into it.
