Having established a powerful data-driven culture and offering, real estate disruptor, Leadhome, has announced the appointment of Louise de Beer, as its head of business intelligence (BI) and data science.

Tasked with forming this new division, de Beer says that her team will provide the business with insights using both traditional and advanced analytics such as artificial intelligence (AI).

“The role of data is becoming more indispensable by the day, regardless of your industry. While certain sectors adapt to change quicker than others, real estate in South Africa is long overdue for positive and progressive change,” says de Beer.

Joining Leadhome, and building an analytics team from the ground up, is a once in a lifetime opportunity according to de Beer: “This role has given me the ability to combine my past software engineering experience with my passion for data. It brings me closer to the decision-makers of the business, enabling us to use these insights to influence strategy as opposed to just delivering other’s ideas.”

As an evolving business at the precipice of change in the real estate sector, de Beer says that having data and producing reports is no longer efficient: “This approach is overwhelming and distracting. Our goal is to generate the right insights for the right people at the right time. By giving the business relevant insights, operationally and strategically, affords us the ability to provide vital information that can alter future outcomes. This is powerful and will continue to set Leadhome apart as an industry leader.”

Of significance, according to de Beer, is the level of transparency this approach offers. She says that this informs customers of the right price at the time for the property, creates a better pricing market for both buyers and sellers and ultimately, promotes a free market.

“Consumers have data available for most other purchases, including household goods, cars to investments. But thus far, South Africa’s property market has been fairly closed in terms of access to this vital information. By giving them suburb trends, property indexes, previous ownership and property financing, Leadhome enables a level of transparency not experienced before,” says de Beer.

She adds that with advanced analytics, Leadhome will undoubtedly change the real estate industry as we know it: “We are currently implementing AI to automate property valuations. This includes tasks such as the analysis of photos, market conditions, previous sales and input from property experts.”

This will include embedding AI into CRM systems, which will enable the agent to predict the likelihood of a property sale: “In doing this we can suggest what action to take to improve the time to sell and at an optimum price. We will be making this tool available to all Leadhome agents, and plan to offer these tools to our customers in the near future.”