Welsh Consultants publishes- Big data has affected the way that organisations do business in every industry across the world, and real estate is no exception. Understanding the term ‘big data’ will help give context to how it helps in real estate analysis. Gartner’s explanation, circa 2001, is still considered the go-to definition: ‘Big data is high-volume, high-velocity and high-variety information assets that demand cost-effective, innovative forms of information processing that enable enhanced insights, superior decision-making, and effective process automation.’ This is often referred to as the ‘three Vs’ of big data. Essentially, big data is processing of large amounts of data, be it historic or real-time, and to which algorithms are applied to discover trends in user behaviour, predict future outcomes, or gain other business insights. The data sets can be structured or unstructured, and can be analysed to make precise and accurate business decisions. This paper reflects upon this in detail.

1. MANISH PARSURAMKA ADP(WHARTON);
MBA(WARWICK); PGDBA(GOLD MEDAL)
1
APPLICABILITY, BENEFITS & CHALLENGES OF USING DATA &
ANALYTICS BY REAL ESTATE OWNERS-DEVELOPERS-OPERATORS-
BROKERS
Introduction
Big data has affected the way that organisations do business in every industry across the world, and
real estate is no exception. Understanding the term ‘big data’ will help give context to how it helps
in real estate analysis. Gartner’s explanation, circa 2001, is still considered the go-to definition: ‘Big
data is high-volume, high-velocity and high-variety information assets that demand cost-effective,
innovative forms of information processing that enable enhanced insights, superior decision-making,
and effective process automation.’ This is often referred to as the ‘three Vs’ of big data.
Essentially, big data is processing of large amounts of data, be it historic or real-time, and to which
algorithms are applied to discover trends in user behaviour, predict future outcomes, or gain other
business insights. The data sets can be structured or unstructured, and can be analysed to make
precise and accurate business decisions. Processing, analysing, and identifying meaningful insights
from such volumes of data is too great a task to expect from a single analyst, or from more traditional
data processing software, which is why data technology is utilised to do the analytical heavy lifting
for organisations. In this way, businesses get answers to problems from bulk data, which they
otherwise would not have been able to.
The Three Vs of Big Data
1. Volume. Big data entails processing high volumes of data. This can be anything from Twitter
data feeds, clicks on a webpage or a mobile app, or sensor-enabled equipment. Volume can
vary between tens of terabytes of data for one business, or hundreds of petabytes for another.
2. Velocity. The quick rate at which data comes in, typically from ‘firehose’ data sources like
social media, and is processed at an alarming rate. Velocity also implies the capability of a
business to quickly process the data and, most importantly, utilise its findings faster.
3. Variety. The wide array of data types that are available. Traditional data types are more
structured, whereas big data typically comes in unstructured data sets. Unstructured and
semi-structured data types come from sources such as text, audio, email, and video, and often
require additional pre-processing before value can be extracted from the data set.
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2. MANISH PARSURAMKA ADP(WHARTON);
MBA(WARWICK); PGDBA(GOLD MEDAL)
2
APPLICABILITY, BENEFITS & CHALLENGES OF USING DATA &
ANALYTICS BY REAL ESTATE OWNERS-DEVELOPERS-OPERATORS-
BROKERS
The Power of Data
When it comes to getting your message in front of your target audience, and measuring its efficacy, in
a world that is already cluttered with advertisements and content, big data is proving effective. It
brings valuable insights, such as consumer trends, and offers the ability to filter important
information from the noise. The key to using big data efficiently is not in how much data a business
has, but how it utilises the data. Organisations can take data from any source, and in any format, and
analyse it for solutions in order to:
1. Make better decisions. Big data analytics can give business decision makers the insights they
need to help their businesses stay competitive and grow. In the New Vantage big data
survey, 48% of the respondents from Fortune 1000 companies surveyed say they use big data
and analytics to compete.
2. Cut costs. Some big data tools, such as Apache Hadoop and cloud-based analytics, can bring
cost reductions when large volumes of data need to be stored, and can identify more efficient
ways of doing business.
3. Increased productivity. Sync sort’s survey of over 200 professionals from various industries
and roles found that 59.9% of respondents use big data tools to increase productivity. Big
data tools allow data analysts to work through more data, faster, which increases their
personal productivity. Additionally, the insights generated from the analytics often improve
productivity at a company-wide level.
4. Manage online reputation. Big data tools allow companies to monitor and improve the
sentiment of the consumer about their brand, service, and product, based on feedback on
social media platforms, and other consumer sites.
5. Improve customer service. Among respondents to the New Vantage survey, customer
service improvement was a common key goal for big data analytics projects, and 57.1% of
companies experienced success in this regard. Social media, customer relationship
management (CRM) systems and other points of digital contact give organisations a wealth of
data about their customers, and this data is used to better serve those customers.
6. Increase revenue. Businesses use the insights gathered from big data to improve their
decision-making, optimise stock based on customer trends, and improve their customer
service. As a result, revenue increases follow. According to the Sync sort survey, more than
half of respondents said they use big data tools to increase revenue and accelerate growth
based on better insights.
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3. MANISH PARSURAMKA ADP(WHARTON);
MBA(WARWICK); PGDBA(GOLD MEDAL)
3
APPLICABILITY, BENEFITS & CHALLENGES OF USING DATA &
ANALYTICS BY REAL ESTATE OWNERS-DEVELOPERS-OPERATORS-
BROKERS
The Advantages of Big Data in Real Estate
Before big data, many of the decisions made in real estate were mostly based on gut feel and first
impressions. Now, data analysis is one of the main factors in today’s decision-making process. Real
estate service providers who are focused on delivering bespoke, customer-centric property solutions
typically have satisfied customers. Insights from their data can be used to help better meet the needs
of their existing customers, the real estate owners, and be used to position themselves as the real
estate partner of choice for prospective customers.
The internet has made searching for property – to buy or rent – an online exercise, with big data being
enabled by many apps, websites and online forums. According to a study by the National Association
of Realtors, 51% of home buyers found their property online in the last year. The data revolution
makes finding data on proximity, real-time traffic estimations, noise levels, areas of late night activity,
restaurants, parks, outdoor activities and customer reviews easy to find, and eliminates some of the
typical buyer confusion.
Realtors, investors, and home buyers now have access to data that is a click away, which empowers
them to make smarter investment decisions, with data analysis making accurate predictions about
risk and market trends. Big data is transforming the real estate industry into a well-calculated game
of information. Benefits include:
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RISK MITIGATION SIMPLE & FAST EVALUATION
REALTORS UNDERSTAND
CUSTOMER NEEDS BETTER
IMPROVEMENT IN
MARKETING STRATEGY
USING BIG DATA WITH
SOCIAL MEDIA
A NEW LEVEL OF INSURANCE
SERVICES

4. MANISH PARSURAMKA ADP(WHARTON);
MBA(WARWICK); PGDBA(GOLD MEDAL)
4
APPLICABILITY, BENEFITS & CHALLENGES OF USING DATA &
ANALYTICS BY REAL ESTATE OWNERS-DEVELOPERS-OPERATORS-
BROKERS
1. Risks mitigation. Predictive analytics helps reduce risk when it comes to real estate
investments, and realtors and buyers now have access to critical information about a property
with few unknowns.
2. Simple (and fast) evaluations. Realtors use property evaluations to set the price of their
properties, and home buyers and investors use them to put forward offers. Financial
institutions rely on them to calculate loans and minimise losses. Big data has the ability to
make appraisals based on years of market data.
3. Realtors understand customers’ needs better. Predictive analytics provided by big data
helps real estate agents better understand what their customers want, and helps them
respond with personal offers based on the data.
4. Improvement in marketing strategy. Realtors can move on current consumer trends faster,
and more accurately.
5. Using big data with social media. Many advertisers utilise social media sites for their useful
marketing data due to their high use by the valuable 18- to 35-year-old demographic. It’s easy
to target your key audience by region, age, gender & interests.
The Future of Big Data in Real Estate Analysis
Ever since Google and YouTube added ‘how-to’ videos for almost every subject, people have
discovered how to execute any number of tasks previously reserved for professionals, including how
to handle real estate purchases. In the US, organisations such as CoreLogic, Smart zip and Info
Sparks offer interactive data visualisation, providing important data you can use for accurate
decision-making. Data analytics technology is becoming increasingly user-friendly, making it more
accessible to people from all walks of life, and optimising not only the real estate industry, but is even
bringing improvement to the way we live in our homes.
• Location intelligence for house scouting. Utilising Geographic Information Systems, real
estate managers can capture, store and visually display location information, making house
hunting and location scouting more accessible to investors
• Building management technology. The Internet of Things (IoT), the network of devices,
home appliances, and other items that have technology that enables these things to connect
and exchange data. This supports certain components of real estate management, such as
property sensors alerting property managers about maintenance needs, and thus improving
tenant and resident experiences, and reducing cost
• Transparent data democratisation. Real estate agencies need to give their customers access to
transparent data through democratisation, making real-time topical data available, such as
recent surveys, lists of homes for sale or rent, and other important information that is
pertinent to the investor or seller
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5. MANISH PARSURAMKA ADP(WHARTON);
MBA(WARWICK); PGDBA(GOLD MEDAL)
5
APPLICABILITY, BENEFITS & CHALLENGES OF USING DATA &
ANALYTICS BY REAL ESTATE OWNERS-DEVELOPERS-OPERATORS-
BROKERS
What does big data mean for the real estate industry of tomorrow? Advances in technology will
continue to reshape the real estate industry, as well as the business models of real estate service
providers. These changes are likely to alter responsibilities, required skills, as well as risks in the real
estate sector, and will impact on margins. However, the long-term outlook for the real estate industry
in lieu of big data and data analysis is a positive one, if those in the industry adjust to the benefits big
data technology provides, and begin to prepare for future changes, today.
Sources:
• Rands, K. (Sep, 2017). ‘How big data is disrupting the real estate industry’. Retrieved
from CIO.
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Magnates.
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• Dykes, B. (Jun, 2017). ‘Forget volume and variety, focus on velocity’. Retrieved from Forbes.
• (Jun, 2017). ‘5 benefits: competitive advantages of big data in business’. Retrieved from New
Gen Apps.
• Chism, P. (Jun, 2017). ‘Use big data to efficiently generate real estate leads’. Retrieved
from Inman.
• Harvey, C. (Aug, 2018). ‘Big data pros and cons’. Retrieved from Datamation.
• (Dec, 2018). ‘Big data and AI executive survey 2019’. Retrieved from New Vantage.
• (Jun, 2017). ‘5 benefits: competitive advantages of big data in business’. Retrieved from New
Gen Apps.
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