Abstract

Property valuation or appraisal is the practice of developing an opinion of the value of real property, usually its Market Value. The need for valuation arises from the heterogeneous nature of property as an investment class, no two properties are identical, and all properties differ from each other in their location; which is one of the most important determinants of their value. So there cannot exist a centralized setting for the trading of property assets, as in corporate stock. The absence of a market-based pricing mechanism determines the need for an expert appraisal/valuation of property. Property valuation or appraisal is generally performed by a licensed or certified appraiser (in many countries known as a property valuer or valuation surveyor). The experience and expert knowledge of the professionals is introduced into the computer programme. And this is carried out by means of artificial intelligence, using learning techniques based on real cases. The computer is programmed to interpret the meaning of expressions like, “the house is a disaster” which, for some valuers, could mean that “the original construction was very bad, the orientation is awful, the distribution of the rooms impossible or it is a ruin”, while for another appraiser it might mean that, “the dwelling is far from the centre, it is on a troublesome estate, and so on.”. The objective is for the system to learn the meaning of, “extrapolating the average of what each of the valuers means”. It has been demonstrated beyond doubt that computerized property valuation is able to deliver quicker, more accurate, more reliable and in the long-run, cheaper valuation information than the traditional valuation methods, including the traditional paper file system. Therefore, it is important for property valuation firms, the central government in the country and the continent in general to take up this global trend and embrace APV as part of the global IT revolution.