Tech, data and AI hold solutions to the residential property market valuations

The municipal valuation of residential properties has become increasingly important to ratepayers as it forms the basis of rates and taxes and if valued too high, ratepayers will pay more than they need to – for at least five years before the next valuation comes around.
 
The issue has been topical in recent weeks as residents in both Johannesburg and Cape Town have been reviewing newly tabled valuation rolls.
 
Hayley Ivins-Downes, Head of Digital at Lightstone Property, said technology, data and artificial intelligence, will help eliminate valuation variances and inaccuracies, and so provide ratepayers with the certainty and comfort that the rates they pay are appropriate.
 
“Our valuation products help clients effectively capitalise on the opportunities hidden in trends. An example of this is our AI Valuation Model (AiVM) which combines the power of Artificial Intelligence with our traditional products and processes to help property owners,” she stated.
 
This model has been running in parallel with Lightstone’s existing AiVM product for six months, and delivers increased coverage, accuracy and usability in property valuations.
 
“We have seen an increase in the proportion of our valuation models predicting within range from just over 70% to close to 85%, and more importantly, we’re setting a new standard for ourselves and the rest of the industry with pinpoint accuracy within 10%,” Ivins-Downes continued.
 
This will help secure mandates from sellers while ensuring that realistic offers are made by buyers in line with the value lenders and other industry players will place on the property.
 
Accurate property valuations for ratepayers
 
 Lightstone’s EzRates assists ratepayers in easily accessing a Lightstone Property Value Buyer Report so they can check if the municipal value on the General Valuation Roll is in line with the property’s estimated market value.
 
This report gives property owners the peace of mind that they have reliable data about their property value and it can also be used as supporting documentation for any objection to information recorded on the Roll, as it includes all the property information registered at the Deeds Office, such as the owner’s details, the size of the property, intel on recent sales in in the area – and much more!
 
Gauteng and Western Cape led the way in terms of churn (graph below) with Western Cape leading on 3.9% and Gauteng marginally behind on 3.7%, while the Northern Cape (1.2%) and Free State (1.4%) were the least active.
 
Other experimental work using AI techniques
 
Lightstone is running other experiments in the AI sphere, including building out their AUR algorithms to provide more intel and insights about buildings, swimming pools and solar investments. This will ultimately create more data for its AiVM to consume or be really useful on its own.