Geospatial data management specialists may be wise to turn their attention to the real estate industry, according to Gil Castle, as current market conditions have set the stage for potentially massive opportunities.
Castle, a past president of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, suggested in a recent column for Directions Magazine that real estate could be the next great frontier for geospatial technology.
"Most people don't realize how huge and pervasive the real estate industry is – certainly one of the dominant sectors in every economy worldwide," Castle noted. "In developed countries such as the United States, real estate assets exceed the value of all publicly traded stocks and bonds."
The wide variety of stakeholders in this arena carry several key needs that could be served by savvy geospatial data management experts. According to Castle, the technology could become a staple of property assessment, appraisal and various due diligence tasks conducted prior to ultimate acquisition.
Despite volatility concerns surrounding the U.S. market, the latest data from the Association of Realtors revealed that annual existing-home sales outperformed November 2010 market forecasts by 12.2 percent. As the market continues to heat up, consumers are likely to hold on to the harsh lessons of recent years and make use of all available resources to ensure they are getting the optimal return on their investment.
