Open data has multiple uses in the housing, construction, and real estate sector. It helps individuals find homes to rent or buy, and enables contractors and city planners to develop those homes. The most widely used data includes housing, demographic, and social, and geospatial. Real estate websites use open data to provide users with comparable property prices, crime statistics across neighborhoods, and proximity to public educational, health, and recreational facilities. Construction companies use land use information and permits before undertaking excavation works and beginning building on new sites. Contractors, buyers, planners, and city advocates monitor land use and analyze real estate markets and access to housing. Investors, surveyors, real estate brokers, and others use topographical, social demographics, education, transportation, and the environment to develop detailed analyses of the renting and ownership markets. This fact sheet is based on data from the Open Data Impact Map, a public database of organizations that use open data from around the world.
