Walkability is getting a lot of attention these days – and home buyers are taking note.
According to the National Association of Realtors 2013 Community Preference Survey, 60% of survey participants prefer a neighborhood with a mix of houses, stores and other businesses that are within easy walking distance of one another. Over half, 55%, would be willing to trade a home with a larger yard for a smaller home within walking distance of schools, stores and restaurants.
Image source: HouseLogic
How can the real estate industry address this growing trend?
Realtors Property Resource Offers Walkability Data to Over 1 Million NAR Members
When agents, brokers, appraisers, real estate portals and others in real estate offer walkability information to home buyers and renters, they make it crystal clear that they understand what consumers want.
With the licensing of Context Walkability, Realtors Property Resource (RPR) is doing just that.
RPR, a subsidiary of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), gathers national, regional and local data that allows NAR’s 1 million members to access information on property and market trends for 160 million U.S. properties.
Context Walkability adds relevant, increasingly sought after data to RPR’s offerings about a neighborhood’s walkability – how accessible coffee shops, schools, stores and other points of interest are by walking.
Dale Ross, CEO of RPR, explained how Context Walkability gives NAR members an edge:
With neighborhood and community walkability on the minds of so many consumers, it’s vital that our agents and brokers have reliable, comprehensive information to share with their clients and customers. The addition of this type of high-demand information to RPR’s already robust tools, features and reports will assist in positioning REALTORS® as the local market expert in their communities.
Realtors and other NAR members can offer buyers comprehensive data on the walkability of their potential new neighborhood. Image source: Claflin.edu
Additional Neighborhood Characteristics Available Through Context
Maponics Context provides lifestyle and behavioral analytics about numerous neighborhood characteristics in addition to Walkability, including Commuter Scores (bikability, drivability and public transportation), Demographics, Crime Scores, Weather Scores and eight others.
Context data can be projected onto other real-life geographies in addition to neighborhoods, such as ZIP Code Boundaries, Carrier Route Boundaries and School Boundaries, including both school districts and school attendance zones.
To learn how your real estate endeavor can benefit from lifestyle and behavioral data such as Context, just get in touch.