134
|
AUTUMN
|
EARLY WINTER
2016
MARKET
watch
One of the cornerstones
of thisMarketWatch has al-
waysbeen (and likelywill alwaysbe) data. Asdiscussed inmy last in-
stallment,dataused tobeacornerstoneofour valueproposition,but is
increasinglybecomingopen source.
For our purposes, whenwe talk about percentage increases andde-
creases, inventoryand list to sold ratios,weuseMLS
®
data. Butwhat is
MLS
®
data?
Let’s start withMLS
®
Systems. TheCanadian Real EstateAssociation
states thatMLS
®
Systems are cooperative selling systems operatedby
real estateBoardsandAssociations inCanada. Theyareaccessible to
REALTOR
®
Members of those Boards and Associations who have
agreed to represent your interests and share remuneration from the
transactionwithacooperatingREALTOR
®
Member.MLS
®
Systemscon-
tain detailed information and numerous search tools, all designed to
matchpeoplewith theproperties that fit their exact requirements.
This is not tobe confusedwith REALTOR.CA (what the public used to
call MLS
®
) which is, essentially, an advertising site for real estate in
Canada.
The data that we use togenerate our market reports and this market
watch comes fromourMLS
®
System. Most properties that are listed
withaREALTOR
®
are typically listedonourMLS
®
system. Through this,
wecan track listed,expiredandsolddata,daysonmarket,geographic
areas,property types, size,bedroomcountandanynumberof relevant
data sets. These data sets are undoubtedly themost comprehensive
availableand,whencorrectly interpreted, canbea tremendous indica-
torof themarket ingeneral andassist us indoingour jobs inhelping in-
dividual clients.
It isnot theonlydataavailable toushowever. Wealsouseservices that
youare likely familiarwith suchasMPAC (Municipal PropertyAssess-
mentCorporation)andsomeyoumayneverhaveheardof suchasTer-
anet.
While thedataprovided tous throughourMLS
®
system is impressive, it
sometimes lacks critical componentsdue to its verynature. Since it isa
sharing service, it needs input from the participants. The definition of
market price is theprice that awillingBuyerwill pay toawilling seller,
freeof duress andwithadequate timeexposed to themarket. What if
apieceof realestate tradeswithoutaREALTOR
®
,or if thedataweneed
isolder thanour records? That iswhereTeranet comes in.
Teranet isanelectronicversionofwhat theold land registryofficesused
tobe.A repositoryofmuchof thecritical informationon individual real
property inOntario.Whoowns it? Historical information includingpre-
viousownersand saleprices. Mortgageand lien information. Weuse
thisdata to roundout theedgesof theotherdataavailable tousand fill
in thegaps.
But this isonlyonedimensionof data. Wearegetting toapointwhere
we can usedata not just topredict market value, andestablish trends,
but help you choosea neighbourhood that is right for you today, and
maybeeven in the future.
Royal LePage just announcedanew tool called “Your Perfect Life”. In
partnershipwith thedatagiantEnvironics theyhave takendemographic
data fromneighbourhoodsacross thecountryandcreateda funand in-
teractive tool that can help you knowmoreabout the neighbourhood
inwhich you live. Just enter your postal code andVoila…average in-
come, averageage, averageageof kids in that neighbourhood, and
tons of other interestingdata. It even categorizes residents of agiven
area intopithy and slightly humorous categories. Are you a “Classy
Commuter”? Areyou “YoungandRestless”? Howabout “Affluent In-
fluencer”or “HometownProud”?
And this iswhere it gets cool—it can even be usedas a tool for you to
pick a neighbourhood youmight want tobuy in, basedonwhere you
see yourself in the future. Let’s say you just starteda new jobandare
thinkingof startinga family. You can tell the system that in5years you
seeyourselfwith3kids,an incomeof100k,andwantaneighbourhood
primarily populatedby couples of the same age and stage that have
the same job category as you do. The system takes this infoandwill
makeneighbourhood recommendationsbasedonwhereyouseeyour-
self in that perfect future life.
Somuch forboringolddata. Technology is increasinglyallowingus to
reinvent dataand itsutility to theconsumingpublic.
And that is important because of howpeople are shopping. TheNa-
tional Association of REALTORS
®
(NAR) continually tracks consumer
trends in real estate. A recent report fromNAR indicates that 100%of
consumersarenowusing the internet tohelp themwith their search for
real estate. 87%areusingaREALTOR
®
tohelp themwith their search
(up from69% in2003). It goeson tonote that40%of consumers look-
ingat real estate online have a120-day lag time between doing re-
searchand takingaction.Newdata interpretationand usage suchas
“YourPerfect Life” isbecomingmoreandmorecritical toonlineengage-
ment andproviding real value to the consumer. (By theway, the irony
of usingdata to justify thenewand improveduseof data is not lost on
me.)
Andnow… let’s lookat thedata.
DesmondvonTeichman
Broker of Record, Owner, Royal LePage
LocationsNorthRealty, Brokerage
By
escarpment real estate
