Real Estate Statistics Software

Transcription

1 Page 0 Real Estate Statistics Software Clareity Consulting November 2012

2 Real Estate Statistics Software Contents Executive Summary... 1 Comparing Two Solutions: The Details... 2 Reports and Charts... 2 Graphs... 6 Statistics Software Providers List About Clareity Consulting... 12

3 Real Estate Statistics Software Page 1 Executive Summary Real estate buyers and sellers have access to increasingly more data, but do not yet have direct access to tools that help them make sense of it all. So, one of the most important roles for real estate professionals is to provide a curated view of the mountains of data available and provide interpretation of real estate information to their clients. Therefore, real estate professionals need to have access to the best real estate statistics software available. Some of Clareity Consulting s MLS and real estate association clients are evaluating whether to provide these tools to all of their members as part of their base fees or dues (a site license ) or to offer it à la carte to those willing to pay for it via an app store approach. In the former case, it is important to pick the best solution for the members in your market, while in the latter case, offering a few good options is important. Either way, Clareity s clients need to understand the landscape of the providers and their software and services. There are a number of national statistics software providers, some of the leaders including 10K Research & Marketing (10K), Altos Research, RealEstate Business Intelligence (RBI), Terradatum, and TrendGraphix. There are also quite a number of regional and local market statistical providers. However, for the sake of introducing this subject in a concise manner, this paper will focus on a comparison of two exceptionally innovative providers, 10K and RBI. Curiously, these two organizations were not typical private start-ups. Both programs were born within existing real estate organizations, an association and MLS respectively, that believed they could interpret their data better than the existing solutions on the market. Over the last few years, both organizations began servicing MLSs and associations in other markets, and in the past year 10K was also tapped to provide reports for the National Association of REALTORS. RBI (incubated at MRIS in Rockville, MD): provides pre-built, branded "ready to ship" reports - not quite as extensive as 10K. has a powerful interactive tool that lets one build somewhat more complex charts than 10K. provides many more options for chart display and usage than 10K, such as website embedding of both static and dynamic custom reports. has a good mobile tool. 10K (incubated at The Minneapolis Association of REALTORS ): provides more in-depth pre-built, branded "ready to ship" reports. These reports provide a narrative, such as an in-depth focus on lender mediated versus "traditional" sales. reports provide a balance of interpretative text, charts and graphs, versus RBI which focuses on providing the charts around which users can provide their own interpretation.

4 Real Estate Statistics Software Page 2 allows for segmentation by city, school district, communities and neighborhoods - not just counties and zip codes. has an interactive tool - but not quite as full-featured as RBI. the interactive tool allows two filters (i.e. status, home type, price) for building charts (versus RBI s single filter application), but currently has fewer useful filters (i.e. no bathroom, square foot). Each solution provides some statistics the other doesn't (see below for lots of details). 10K has statistics on New Construction, Months Supply, and provides a Housing Affordability Index. RBI provides more listing status granularity, and Dollar Volume statistics. Neither program yet provides for segmentation by subdivision. It s great that we have such a competitive market for real estate statistics software! We wish we had time to compare all of the solutions in depth, but as a practical matter, Clareity s comparison of two of the leading solutions will educate our readers on what features are available and desirable, thereby providing a guideline or benchmark for comparisons of other statistical packages. Clareity is also available to provide professional consulting to organizations considering a bulk purchase or site license and facilitate the decision of which solution is best for your state or local market. Comparing Two Solutions: The Details Reports and Charts Both provide reports that include statistics - current month, year over year, and month over month for: Total Sold Dollar Volume Closed Sales Median Sold Price Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Average Sold to Original List Price Ratio The difference? 10K allows users to segment data and generate charts not just by county and zip code, but by community, city, school district and neighborhood. RBI provides a Median Days on Market indicator.

5 Real Estate Statistics Software Page 3 Both 10K and RBI provide detailed statistical charts including: Sold Summary (year over year, % change) Avg Sold Price Median Sold Price Units Sold Avg Days on Market Avg List Price for Solds Avg SP to OLP Ratio Ratio of Avg SP to Avg OLP Attached Avg Sold Price Detached Avg Sold Price Attached Units Sold Detached Units Sold Inventory (year over year, % change) o Active Listings o New Listings Financing (sold, #) o Assumption, Cash, Conventional, FHA, Owner, VA, Other

6 Real Estate Statistics Software Page 4 Example a 10K ready to go report two of the seven pages:

7 Real Estate Statistics Software Page 5 Example an RBI Local Market Insight report one of the five pages: The differences? RBI lets the user generate heat maps showing at a glance statistics overlaid on the geography, including Median Sold Price Average DOM Sold to OLP Ratio Closed Sales New Pendings New Listings

8 Real Estate Statistics Software Page 6 RBI s heat map example: 10K additionally has inventory charts that allow users to segment: New Under Contracts New Contingents New Pendings All Pendings 10K also has charts for the New Construction category. Graphs Both RBI and 10K provide high impact statistical graphs showing month over month, year over year, and five year averages: New Listings New Pendings Closed Sales Median Sold Price Active Listings / Inventory Avg DOM Avg Sold to OLP Ratio RBI and 10K also provide a variety of graphs and charts related to distressed properties.

9 Real Estate Statistics Software Page 7 The differences? 10K has the following additional graphs: Average Sold Price (MoM, YoY, YTD/YoY) Months Supply Housing Affordability Index Weekly report RBI has the following additional graphs: New Pendings (bar) vs. Median Sold Price (line) - by month for 2 years Contract Snapshot - Chart of Closed / Contracts / Contingent Contracts YoY Both 10K and RBI have embeddable Videos with market-wide statistics and offer interactive graphs and charts. Both allow for sharing of the interactive charts in a variety of ways, including: Print Facebook Twitter Google+ WordPress Other Social Media (many more using AddThis) Export graphic for use as you see fit Example 10K chart ready for sharing:

10 Real Estate Statistics Software Page 8 The differences? The 10K interactive chart (Infospark) allows two filters (i.e. status, home type, price) for building charts versus RBI's one filter (this is important!) and allows users to define their own market areas on a map, but 10K has fewer useful filters (i.e. no bathroom, living area square feet). RBI s interactive tool also allows for date range comparisons and for comparisons of one area to another region, county or zip code. RBI users also have the ability to drill down to thirteen price ranges - compared with 10K s three-way segmentation. But, the 10K tool does allow users to segment their interactive charts as new construction or waterfront properties and 10K said they will have the area comparison feature very soon. Meanwhile, RBI said they will have waterfront and new construction segments soon, and subdivisions are being considered for a future release. Example 10K Infospark interactive tool:

11 Real Estate Statistics Software Page 9 Example - RBI Interactive Tool: RBI allows users to use the charts in additional useful ways, including: Embed auto-update version Embed fixed date range version Embed - choose size Export as PDF Example - RBI auto update chart embedded in web site using cut and paste code:

12 Real Estate Statistics Software Page 10 Currently only RBI allows users to export the interactive charts to a comma delimited file or Excel but 10K says this is coming very soon as well. RBI is currently in the lead on mobile device access, providing a mobile tool with the following features: Example - RBI Mobile: Select area o Enter Zip Code o Zip Code from GPS Statistics (value, YoY, MoM) o Total Sold Dollar Volume o Closed Sales o Median Sold Price o Average Sold Price o Average DOM o Average Sold to Original List Price Ratio Charts (by month) o Sold Listings o New Pendings o All Pendings o New Listings o Active Listings o Average Sale Price o Median Sale Price o Average DOM o Median DOM o Average Sold-to-OLP Ratio 10K stated it is currently working on improving its mobile capabilities. RBI also provides a region-wide statistic chart in speedometer format for MLS and Association leadership and staff, showing month vs. 5 year averages for the following statistics: Example - RBI Speedometer Chart: Closed Sales Pending Sales Active Listings New Listings Months of Inventory Avg DOM before Sale Avg Active $ per Sqft Avg Sold $ per Sqft

13 Real Estate Statistics Software Page 11 Statistics Software Providers List For more information on real estate statistics software, you may wish to review the websites of leading providers, or contact them at: 10K Research & Marketing Market Trend Reports, Infosparks 5750 Lincoln Drive Edina, MN Altos Research AltosCharts, AltosReports, AltosConnect 280 Hope St, Suite 100 Mountain View CA RealEstate Business Intelligence (RBI) rbiexpert 9707 Key West Avenue, Suite 200 Rockville, MD Terradatum AgentMetrics, BrokerMetrics, Clarus MarketMetrics P.O. Box 387 Glen Ellen, CA ext. 2 TrendGraphix TRENDVision 3640 American River Drive, Suite 100 Sacramento, CA sales@trendgraphix.com Please note that there are other providers for example, local and regional providers that are not on this list. Non-inclusion in this report does not mean that Clareity Consulting has a negative opinion regarding those providers. Clareity suggests you explore the local providers in your area and consider adding them to your à la carte list of providers or a possibly buying a site license. Clareity Consulting can help you make sense of all of the information on these products that is publicly available via a presentation (in person or web-meeting) or Clareity can gather and analyze more complete information both public and otherwise - via a Request for Proposal (RFP) process, receiving competitive bids and make the best business decision with regard to your statistics software selection. We are also considering having a Statistics Shoot-Out at Clareity s 12 th Annual MLS Executive Workshop in Scottsdale February 27 March 1, 2013 (

14 Real Estate Statistics Software Page 12 About Clareity Consulting Clareity Consulting brings clients fresh insights and wide perspective gained by serving clients throughout the industry: associations and MLSs, brokerages, franchises, technology vendors, and others. Clareity s services include: STRATEGIC AND BUSINESS PLANNING Clareity provides strategic, governance, and product/service business planning that bridges the gaps between strategy, tactics, and the timely activities needed to support your goals. Clareity also facilitates MLS regionalization & data shares. PUBLIC SPEAKING Clareity can address leadership or large groups on timely topics in an informative and fun way. Popular topics include MLS trends and system options, information security, and real estate technology trends, such as cloud computing and mobile technologies. PRODUCT / SERVICE / SOFTWARE REVIEW Clareity performs customer surveys and market research, develops product strategies and specifications, performs usability and quality assurance, audits security, and facilitates user groups. Clareity also facilitates strategic alliances, mergers, and acquisitions. WEBSITE PLANNING AND REVIEW Clareity helps improve website design, usability, and content, accounting for key factors such as SEO and mobile experience. Clareity also creates specifications and helps clients select the best partners to produce, and provide compelling content for, their web applications. SYSTEM SELECTION From needs assessment and RFP to contract negotiation, for MLS, TMS, Public Records, and other offerings, Clareity's structured processes help your organization make a good business decision with stakeholder involvement. COMPLIANCE AND RISK AUDITS Providing information security, risk management and business resumption planning, staffing and salary reviews, and VOW / IDX compliance audits, Clareity brings both an independent view and finely-honed technical skills. RECRUITING Your business is only as successful as your leaders and employees, and Clareity has discreetly helped recruit some of the brightest minds in our industry for their current positions, both executive and technical. EXPERT WITNESS Whether it's a matter of the policies and practice of organized real estate or a more technical software dispute, Clareity can provide an expert witness with integrity and experience to conduct research, write expert opinions, and provide depositions and testimony. For more information, please contact: Gregg Larson Matt Cohen Gregg.Larson@CallClareity.com Matt.Cohen@CallClareity.com Or visit: