CRE Professionals Using New Tools to Increase Transparency

Technology is taming the complex world of commercial real estate investment–a vast and diverse market that generated an estimated $1 trillion of significant property sales last year. With the help of new and enhanced online tools, real estate investors can search for properties, research market conditions, analyze demographics, compare recent sales and even take virtual tours–without ever leaving their offices.

For brokers and investors, the days of endless travel to scout for properties, pen and pad in hand, are gone. Now it’s all about virtual reality and powerful searches through comprehensive property databases. Industry players say it’s all about increased transparency–the attempt to illuminate a once fragmented and localized market sector. And while commercial real estate still lags the residential sector, the commitment to publicly accessible listings and resources is picking up steam.

Just recently, New York City-based Real Capital Analytics created a global real estate transaction database. San Francisco-based LoopNet Inc., meanwhile, released the next generation of LoopLink, a technology that powers commercial property listings on more than 1,000 real estate websites. Both tools are designed to make it easier, faster and more convenient for prospective buyers to access commercial real estate data, company officials say.