WO2009064283A1

WO2009064283A1 - System and method for visually displaying real estate price and value trends

Info

Publication number: WO2009064283A1
Application number: PCT/US2007/084419
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lee Konowe
Original assignee: Envirian, Llc
Priority date: 2007-11-12
Filing date: 2007-11-12
Publication date: 2009-05-22

Abstract

The system and method of the present invention accesses and/or stores information about real estate properties, and uses such information to produce a visually perceptible display of desired characteristics of such properties or aggregations of properties, as well as a visually perceptible display of changes in such characteristics, or of rates of change in such characteristics.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VISUALLY DISPLAYING REAL ESTATE PRICE AND VALUE TRENDS

Summary of the Invention

While it is well-accepted that the three most important things in real estate are. "location, location and location," in the real world of transactions, buyers and sellers of real estate are engaged in a complex optimization of many important factors. One element that may be nearly as important as location is the price (or value) of properties, and the market conditions that control changes in price (or value) and rates of change. There exists a need for a simple, visually perceptible presentation of price and/or value trends in a real estate market so that decisions regarding transactions and investments may be made with greater confidence. The present invention comprises a method for computing and visually displaying price and/or values of real estate in a given geographic area, and for displaying change or rate of change in such price and/or value.

Background of the Invention

Coloring of geographically dispersed data has long been used in the meteorology field. For example, radar images are commonly pseudocolored to indicate the strength of return (and thus, intensity of precipitation.) Using a color spectrum or a gray-scale, information is portrayed to allow a user to evaluate abstract information in a geographic context. Similar pseudocoloiϊng schemes have also long been employed in medicine for display of imaging data such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance images. Starting in the mid-1980s, it became clear that listings of available real estate properties for sale, lease, and the like would be improved if the actual locations of such properties could be displayed on maps. Most important, the maps need to have sufficient detail and content to allow prospective purchasers and lessees to visualize the relative locations of the properties and other landmarks and geographic features, such as schools, shopping, transportation hubs and routes, and the like. U.S. Patent No. 4,870,576 and U.S. Patent No. 5,032,989, "Real Estate Location System and Method" both represent the earliest-known examples of such mapping of available real estate properties on maps that are zoomable to display higher levels of detail sufficient to permit evaluation of the location value of properties relative to landmarks and other features.

After the advent of the World Wide Web and the hosting of multiple listing databases on interactive computer systems in the late 1990s, it became more common to display the locations of available properties on interactive maps. Such systems typically displayed property locations as dots, icons, or similar indicia. Some systems even differentiated the indicia to show differences in property type (a single-family home appeared different from a town home, for instance.) Still, multiple listing systems typically provided only present-time price information, and did not maintain historic listings, choosing to purge the database of property records within a short time of a completed transaction. Other property transaction records were (and are) used for compilations of "comparables" (lists of sales in the same general area of similar properties, for the purpose of evaluating the value of a particular property,) when such a list is required (as, for example, in an appraisal.)

Even with such comparables lists, there remained a need for real-time historic pricing information, and for a simple, visually perceptible way of communicating prices and trends to those interested in such information.

Summary of the Invention

The system and method of the present invention accesses and/or stores information about real estate properties, and uses such information to produce a visually perceptible display of the price and/or value of such properties, or a subset meeting selection criteria specified by a user, as well as a visually perceptible display of changes in price and/or value, or of rates of change in price and/or value.

In its most basic embodiment, the method of the present invention stores a periodic "snapshot" image of all or a part of a multiple listing database providing, at a minimum, the geographic location of each property listed, the asking price or sale price of the property, and optionally, other characteristics of each property such as numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms, type of construction, From the collection of such snapshots, the method determines the range of price and/or value applicable to a given geographic area, calculates values representative of change velocities for one or more values or derived information about the property, or a collection of properties, and then pseudocolors each property and plots locations on a map which may then be animated to depict the changes and velocities. The map may then be animated over time to portray trends in price and/or value, and the data may be segmented by criteria in addition to geographic limitation.

Although not an exhaustive list, among the informational values that may be stored by "snapshot'^" and then used in the method of the present invention are:

Sold price

List price/sold price delta

Days on market

Number of listings per square mile

Average age of homeowner

Average age of family

Average adult education level achieved

Family median income

Per Capita family income

Multiple colour representation of ethic makeup (updated census)

S's per pupil spending by public school district

Number of students/class/teachers

Change over time of assessed home value

Overall crime reports by zip

% of single family units vs multiple family units

Assessed value vs. sold price delta

One of ordinary skill in the real estate marketing arts will appreciate that any information that is of importance to a potential purchaser or lessee of properties may be gathered, stored, tracked and displayed according to the present invention. In many instances, it is the direction and rate of change (velocities) of such information relative to both a particular property of interest, and to surrounding properties, neighborhoods, or regions that will be of interest to such persons. By allowing easy visualization of such change information, interested parties may better make judgments regarding future conditions, values, and ultimately, better informed commercial decisions regarding real estate.

The present invention may be implemented as a computer-implemented method using relational database management software, such as Oracle 7, on a conventional general-purpose computer system, such as an Apple Macintosh Pro. By accessing data contained in one or more systems containing information about available real estate properties (e.g., multiple listing services, such as, for example, TREND MLS in King of Prussia. Pennsylvania), and by storing such information at intervals, analysis may be programmatically conducted to detect changes in the information, and to determine rates of change, which may then be displayed graphically using statistical analysis software, such as SPSS or SAS, or geographic information system software, such as that available from Maplnfo Corporation or ESRI.

Claims

I claim as my invention:

1. A system for presenting dynamic information about one or more real estate properties comprising:

(a) access means for accessing information representative of characteristics of available real estate properties;

(b) storage means for storing information accessed by the access means, together with temporal information indicative of the period in which the stored information was accessed;

(c) analysis means for analyzing the stored information to detect changes therein:

(d) graphic presentation means for rendering the results of the analysis into visually perceptible form;

(e) graphic display means for displaying the visually perceptible form of the results.

2. The system of Claim 1 wherein the characteristic information is accessed from a multiple listing database system.

3. The system of Claim 1 wherein the characteristic information is selected from among one or more of: Information fields stored in a multiple listing database system; Information fields stored in a census database; Governmental planning information: Tax information; Government deed information; or School information.

4. The system of Claim 1 wherein the characteristic information is selected from among one or more of: Sold price; List price/sold price delta; Days on market; Number of listings per square mile; Average age of homeowner; Average age of family; Average adult education level achieved; Family median income; Per Capita family income; Ethnic makeup; Spending per pupil by public school district; Number of students/class/teachers: Assessed home value; Overall crime reports by zip; % of single family units vs multiple family units; or Assessed value vs. sold price delta.

5. The system of Claim 1 wherein only changes in information values from a first date to a second date arc displayed.

6. The system of Claim 1 wherein velocities of change in information values from a first date to a second date are displayed in a manner to permit a user to interpret the velocities of change.

7. The system of Claim 6 wherein velocities of change in information values are depicted on a map that also depicts the general geographic region from which the information is derived.

8. The system of Claim 7 wherein the map also displays the general location of one or more available real estate properties.

9. A method for presenting dynamic information about one or more real estate properties comprising the steps (in any appropriate order) of:

(a) accessing accessing information representative of characteristics of available real estate properties;

(b) storing information accessed by the access means, together with temporal information indicative of the period in which the stored information was accessed:

(c) analyzing the stored information to detect changes therein;

(d) rendering the results of the analysis into visually perceptible form; and

(e) displaying the visually perceptible form of the results.