April 14, 2014 -- Australian real estate agents could soon have a powerful selling tool at their disposal, thanks to a clever new approach to property mapping – according to a leading data specialist.

MapData Services (MDS) - renowned for developing apps for many of Australia’s biggest businesses - is providing the property sector with never a before available tool that paints a picture of an area’s suitability for a prospective a buyer.

The solution – which incorporates the latest mapping technology and data such as average income, mean house prices, crime levels and local commute times – gives realtors unparalleled access to information about neighbourhoods across the country.

MDS General Manager Cassandra Barker said the tool provided invaluable insights that would help prospective buyers find neighbourhoods which suited their lifestyles – or ensure realtors could better work with sellers to reach a realistic price for their homes.

“Buying a home isn’t just about how much money you can afford to spend, it’s also about settling into a neighbourhood,” Ms Barker said.

“Average house prices and incomes for an area can give potential buyers a better feel for a particular community’s social demographics, especially when compared with neighbouring suburbs.

“How long you can expect to spend in the car taking the kids to school; how susceptible is your home to flooding; or are you moving into a bushfire danger zone – are all questions which play a part in establishing a suburb’s liveability.

“By making intuitive suburb profiles available to buyers through an online mapping portal, real estate agents can give their customers a higher level of comfort before they buy a home - generating a greater level of trust in the process.”

The solution also incorporates nation-wide crime statistics, equipping buyers and real estate agents with important insights about theft, break-ins and safety ratings.

Ms Barker said the data behind the solution has been rigorously compiled by a team of statisticians and demographers who analysed data collected from the most authoritative sources available - including the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

“The geo-demographic dataset includes risk scores, rated between one and 20, of the likelihood of crimes in a particular area,” Ms Barker said.

“The scores can be used to gauge the risk of vehicles being stolen, households burgled and even how safe residents feel in a particular area.

“From this information buyers can determine whether these risks are compatible with the price they are being asked to pay for a property.”