Altus Group releases global report on the state of data science in CRE investing

Key insights include:

• While data science adoption in CRE is growing, nearly half of investors still aren’t employing data science to support decision-making, portfolio performance and operational efficiencies.

• Leveraging data science is cited as a high priority, motivated by competitive differentiation for performance and risk management, asset and portfolio optimization, and business strategy enhancements.

• CRE firms have limited visibility into what their peers are doing in data science and how they fall on the adoption curve in comparison. Without a ‘north star’, each firm is forging ahead independently regarding how to best invest in, implement and optimize data science capabilities.

• Although in-house capabilities are advancing, CRE firms increasingly rely on external providers for their data science needs as in-house development continues to face challenges obtaining high-quality, relevant data inputs. Driving organizational buy-in and adoption, on top of the challenges of hiring and retaining qualified data science staff at CRE firms, are also cited as obstacles.

“Competitive forces are reshaping many aspects of our industry at a pace never seen before,” commented Michael Clawar, Vice President of Data Science at Altus Group. “Tapping into data science helps CRE firms identify opportunities others miss such as which high-potential sectors or profitable properties to invest in. As we help our clients assess their requirements and implement data science capabilities, we’re seeing powerful proof points on how data science can help manage risk and drive performance.”

A copy of the Altus Group 2023 The State of Data Science in Commercial Real Estate Investing Report can be downloaded here. The report was conducted in the second half of 2022 and is based on a global survey of over 400 CRE executives directly involved in their firm’s analytics and data science strategies, spread through 14 countries across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.