Realtor.com released its new map-based information Tuesday, which uses color-coded map layers to help homebuyers find their next home based on popular home features and market trends.
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Realtor.com has enhanced its map-based home search functionality with dynamic map layers, a tool that enables buyers to visualize key market data in their desired locations. There are 11 map layers for buyers to explore, including home measurements, lot size and slope, home size and age, market heat, sales vs. listing prices, average days on market and neighborhood boundaries.
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Mausam Bhatt Credit: LinkedIn
“Do you remember when you bought your first smartphone and how it changed the way you use the phone? Dynamic map layers will change the way people search for homes online,” said Realtor.com Chief Product and Technology Officer Mausam Bhatt in a written statement. “They are a completely new approach to home discovery that allows buyers to answer their most pressing questions by looking at a map.”
Available on desktop and mobile devices, home buyers can access dynamic map layers by changing their home search view from list to map. After converting the map, they can click the layer icon to see all the data display options, which are colored from light yellow to dark purple. Colors change as home buyers zoom in or out of certain areas, giving buyers a bird’s eye view of listings and market trends in their area.
“[The maps] presents data in an interactive way that is easy to use, easy to understand, and easy to make more informed decisions about – so users can confidently choose the place they call home,” added Bhatt.
Old Realtor.com map search vs dynamic map layers | Credit: Realtor.com
On the phone with Inman, Bhatt said the dynamic map layers will save buyers valuable time while searching for their perfect home. Instead of sorting through lists based on filters and keywords, they can simply flip through the layers to easily find answers to their most pressing questions.
“I live in the Silicon Valley Bay Area, and it’s a very broad area,” he said. “Many cities and towns make up the Bay Area and buyers are looking for many different things, such as a turn-of-the-century Victorian home, new construction or an earthquake-proof neighborhood.”
“Being able to answer those questions traditionally meant you had to spend hours and hours like walking through one place at a time, looking at all the details, and creating this mind map or list,” he said. “With this program, it was about how we could cut through what was most distracting from the physical object and you could get important information at a glance.”
Bhatt said his team is already considering ways to expand the map’s capabilities, including weather risk and predictive market layers.
“We work in layers to help people think about their decision, such as how house prices will evolve in the next 10, 20 or 30 years,” he said. “When they’re making perhaps one of the most important financial decisions of their lives, they’re going to want to understand that.”
“And similarly, we’ve also been at the forefront of adding more environmental risk factors and trends data,” he added. “So we’re going to add layers [about that] to our dynamic map layer technology.”
Realtor.com’s dynamic lot size map overlay | Credit: Realtor.com
Finally, Bhatt said artificial intelligence will be key to future iterations of dynamic map layers and creating a personalized experience for every visitor on Realtor.com’s desktop and mobile sites.
“I see AI as the fundamental basis for personalizing the mapping experience,” he said. “Let’s say, for example, a consumer comes and engages with some layers or some parts of the neighborhood more than others, we want to use machine learning and AI to personalize the maps.”
“I mean, today, for most people, maps are normal. It’s one size fits all, but the way people interact with maps and what’s important to them is also important and very different, and I think that’s our opportunity to innovate,” he added. “It’s like starting from from black and white to color television. That’s the experience we want to create for consumers.”
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