Property market insight starts with knowing what your data cannot tell you

A brokerage’s enquiry database can reveal useful patterns. It can show which areas its prospects are asking about, what requirements they describe and why particular opportunities fail to progress. The value of those observations depends on understanding their limits.

Joe Sokolic, founder and CEO of Sokolic Property Group, believes AI-assisted analysis should make those limits more visible.

“Our own enquiries can tell us a great deal about the conversations reaching our business,” says Sokolic. “We need to be careful about presenting that as a complete picture of the market.”

Imagine that a brokerage records more enquiries for smaller offices over a particular period. That change may reflect occupier preferences. It may also reflect a new campaign, a different mix of available properties or a change in the channels through which enquiries arrive.

Before drawing a conclusion, the business should ask what changed in its own activity. It should also distinguish between the number of messages received and the number of separate requirements. Several enquiries from one company should not automatically become several independent signals of demand.

AI can help organise records and prepare draft summaries. The analytical task still requires decisions about definitions, time periods and the quality of the underlying information. An attractive chart does not resolve those questions.

Sokolic argues that a credible observation should explain its scope in plain language. A statement about enquiries handled by a particular business during a stated period is more useful than an unsupported declaration about an entire city or sector.

“Being precise about the evidence gives the reader something they can evaluate,” he says. “It also helps us ask better questions about what might be happening.”

The database needs consistent records for that analysis to work. Requested size should be separated from the size of a property viewed. Asking rental should be distinguished from a prospect’s budget. A transaction that did not conclude should not be treated as evidence of an agreed market rental.

Missing information also matters. If the reason for rejection is recorded only occasionally, the available reasons may provide an incomplete picture. A summary should acknowledge that rather than assigning certainty to the most common recorded answer.

Sokolic sees a valuable role for experienced brokers in reviewing patterns. They can provide context, identify alternative explanations and suggest where further investigation would be worthwhile.

The result can support better marketing and more informed client conversations without overstating the evidence.

“Strong market commentary should show its workings clearly enough to be trusted,” he says. “AI can help us examine information, but credibility comes from the care we take with the conclusion.”

First published on sokolic.co.za by Sokolic Property Group.

Get commercial property news by email

Free alerts when we publish — pick a focus or get everything, unsubscribe in one click. Subscribe »