U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in rankings and consumer advice, today unveiled its new Housing Market Index. The new tool leverages IBM Watson® Natural Language Understanding – and the recently acquired Housing Tides Index from EnergyLogic – to help enable U.S. News to interpret and synthesize large volumes of housing data for easy viewing.
This new index comes as the housing market crisis continues to raise concerns about the current and future state of interest rates – and homeownership as a whole. The computing power supporting this platform allows users to find tailored data results for different regions and time periods, allowing them to make informed decisions about housing.
“Our platform features an incredibly intuitive interface that simplifies housing market insights,” said U.S. News Real Estate Director Matt Bray. “We incorporate housing demand signals, housing supply data, and key financial indicators to provide a detailed market score. Whether you’re looking for an aggregated view of the top U.S. markets, or want to analyze a specific metropolitan market, single-family or multi-family, our new index is at your fingertips.”
U.S. News experts are also enthusiastic about the platform’s robust sentiment analysis feature which interprets the sentiment of 500 media pieces related to housing monthly.
“Sentiment analysis of major media sources helps us see market trends and understand economic changes,” said Bray. “The impact of media coverage on the housing market and home builder equity returns should not be underestimated. Our housing market sentiment analysis tool lets you see how each regional housing market is being discussed, positively or negatively, in near real-time.”
The new Housing Market Index expands on its capabilities through its single and multi-family housing permit tool, another core feature that provides forecasts for the top 50+ U.S. markets. Many models only predict construction start dates, but this tool provides a competitive advantage by peering further into the future with permit forecasts.
U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower consumers, business leaders and policy officials to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives and communities. A multifaceted digital media company with Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars, News, Real Estate and 360 Reviews platforms, U.S. News provides rankings, independent reporting, data journalism, consumer advice and U.S. News Live events. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.