The availability, quality, reliability, and pricing of real estate data is one of the biggest challenges facing real estate stakeholders. A report published in the Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences suggest that “absence or inadequate reliable data will result in inappropriate decision or even no decision at all.”

For investors, realtors, brokers, buyers, and sellers, the data available in the real estate market is usually random and often extremely incoherent. In fact, fetching any actionable insights from such data demands great efforts. Most of the time, the valuable information you need to make strategic decision on real estate investments is often buried within several layers of needless, confusing, and disorganized data. Hence, it often takes a great deal of energy and perseverance to sift through the ton of data for find the information you need before you can make an insightful analysis.

This piece provides insights into how big data and blockchain technology might be able to make real estate data streams for organized, readily accessible, and reliable over the long term.

The Crux of Real Estate Data Issue

The data problem in the real estate market is multifaceted but technological innovation such as blockchain technology and Big data might solve systemic problems in a single sweep. One of the biggest challenges with real estate data is that the data sets come from multiple, conflicting, and non-standardized sources.

Secondly, the gatekeepers of real estate market data don’t provide information on their methodologies of data collection, verification and fool-proofing. Hence, there are not many avenues for verifying the accuracy of the data and users are forced to rely on the reputation of the data provider as a yardstick for measuring the quality of the data. The gatekeepers in turnusethe strength of their reputation to continue dominating the market, charging huge sums for data and making it incredibly difficult for new players to enter the real estate data marketplace.

Finally, tech companies such as Trulia and Zillow in the U.S and Zoopla in the UK often provide an overly simplistic solution to a complex problem; thereby leading to inaccurate valuations. For instance, similar properties in the same neighbourhood with the same architectural design, would have the same valuation because they look identical on paper. However, a closer look at the realities might show that one of the houses has upgraded their bathroom fixtures while the other has a foundation fault. Hence, the data on pricing is only valuable if it's relevant, timely and accurate.

Blockchain and Big Data to the Rescue

ReBloc is a decentralized real estate data marketplace designed to enable an immutably fair and transparent data transfer among stakeholders in the real estate market. ReBloc makes it easy for everybody in the real estate value chain – insurance companies, brokers, lenders, title companies, owners, and buyers to surmount the huge data challenges that have suppressed data integrity, competitive pricing, and increased trading volumes in the real estate market.

Using a three-pronged approach, ReBloc delivers a cryptocurrency that fuels the exchange of information to incentivise data aggregators. The marketplace allows the indexing of real estate market data and serves as a data exchange where users can trade data in exchange for tokens.

ReBloc will be particularly useful in data validation for the real estate industry because of its independent validation layer. When you purchase data on the marketplace, the protocol automatically pulls the data from the database of the provider and the data is stored in a smart contract. The smart contract simultaneously pulls the same data sets from other databases that serve as validators and compares them to be sure that the data is accurate. Once consensus is attained, the smart contract sends the data to the consumer and the vendor gets paid.

A Win-Win for All Stakeholders

Access to relevant and accurate data could help the global real estate market unlock latent value and provide a win-win situation for all stakeholders along the value chain. Real estate investment firms will find it much easier to assess risk-return profiles on various real estate investments and correct charting and interpretation of validated data sets could provide valuable insights that will help attract more funds into real estate investments.

Also, the decentralized availability of real estate data sets such as graphs, charts, and tables could significantly cut down the time it takes to initiate, process, and complete real estate transactions. Faster processing times means sellers can get paid faster, buyers can move into their dream houses quicker, and realtors can earn their commissions sooner.

By Boris Dzhingarov

© 2018 Copyright Boris Dzhingarov - All Rights Reserved

Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

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