Location Intelligence 101: A Guide for Real Estate

In a market that is riddled with complexity – location intelligence helps real estate industry leaders gain vital competitive advantage and cut-through clarity. Huq understands this data more than anyone. Some of the challenges facing the real estate sector you’ll be familiar with include rising inflation and spiralling interest rates (now, thankfully coming down or at least stabilising), the long tail impact of Covid 19 on decentralisation, and – of course – regulatory factors.

Post-Covid working, as an example, has led to a substantial flow of people and resources away from dense urban areas and into suburbs and even further afield. As ‘the local’ is experiencing a revival, the business district and so its property market – particularly commercial – faces a decrease in demand. How then does a portfolio property investor / developer choose the optimum space to purchase?

As ever, location intelligence and live demographic data is key. Real estate data insights have traditionally focused on conventional metrics like occupancy rates, rental fees paid by tenants, and local market trends. More recently however, there’s a growing appreciation of the power of non-traditional variables – like the growth and positioning of local pop ups and stores (think the proliferation of indie coffee shops), localised online reviews (Google, Yell, Trusted Reviews, and app-based Swarm – that was once Foursquare). It also pays to explore any influx into an area of businesses, retail, and hospitality; the latter would not open up if it wasn’t confident there’d be people willing to part with cash for their croissants, carrot cake, or Calamari.

Consider Wimbledon town centre as a microcosm of this phenomenon. The impact of Covid acted as a fatal blow for numerous brands relying on casual foot traffic in this south-west London town, famed more for its tennis than its shopping scene. As a result, the town’s primary retail hub, Centre Court, transformed into a deserted mall marked by boarded doors and misty white windows. The Broadway high street also suffered terribly. However, thanks to astute analysis of localised intelligence, catchment demographics, and geospatial data, Romulus has made an extraordinary property development investment—giving rise to the ‘Wimbledon Quarter’. This revitalised space stands in stark contrast to the old mall, catering to an economically mobile and environmentally conscious demographic, offering a dynamic environment for individuals to ‘connect, engage, and thrive.

Traditional brand staples within generic retail parks face a greater risk of failure amid the substantial shift to online consumerism, causing nearby towns to experience decreased footfall. Instead, we’re witnessing the pull of unconventional businesses—a bespoke wall-climbing franchise, an indoor golf entertainment venue coupled with a light food enterprise, and a sizable seasonal pop-up area featuring a modest ice rink, crepe stands, and Christmas gift outlets. The changing landscape demands adaptation from retail chains, and this is where Huq steps in.

Only thorough yet user-friendly analysis of location data and demographics is crucial for making informed investments in property development. With such insights, we anticipate a further surge in housing development and alternative properties.

As the UK’s ageing population continues to grow, the landscape of housing for this demographic faces new challenges. With the possibility of multi-generational living arrangements and a strain on care facilities, there’s an urgent need to adapt accommodation options. The key to addressing these challenges lies in optimising real estate construction to cater to the evolving movements and needs of this population. Exploring this market presents a meaningful opportunity to develop top-tier real estate that fosters communities and offers support to individuals and families. Through prioritising dignity, independence, and affordable housing, we aim to create a nurturing environment for all. Only the real estate companies who have the data can best capture this arising new opportunity.

There are a myriad of ways Huq’s core location expertise could help identify successful investment strategies for property location optimisation, including:

• Investment – Harnessing visitor insights from specific areas aids in informed decision-making for selecting promising real estate sites and capitalising on property investment trends.
• Marketing – Utilise real estate market insights to target the appropriate stakeholders effectively.
• Competitive benchmarking – Assess your position within the market by leveraging location intelligence solutions and market intelligence.
• Housing and rentals – Attract tenants and discover suitable vacant units through comprehensive real estate market research.

We aim to minimise risk in site selection, real estate investment, and portfolio management by fostering repeatability and reliance on data. These crucial factors can be further enhanced by incorporating layers of location-based data, leveraging Huq’s expertise and cutting-edge tools as industry leaders.

Let’s look at some examples.

This data can identify what kinds of stores’ customers visit a given area or district. Are there out-of-the-way venues that are popular also, that could be reached by a close drive or transport? These are all decisions forming values.

Better understanding behaviour and product popularity, gives retailers a strong hand to forecast demand, and therefore more accurately optimise supply – minimising stockouts and reducing overstock accordingly. Location data, and AI analysis can even help identify the busiest times and routes for last-mile delivery services. We imagine (for example) florists, and restaurants would benefit from this knowledge. This is the kind of intelligence that drives Amazon – but it’s yours at a fraction of the expense and hassle!

How many people visit a business area? How long did they spend there? How does current foot traffic compare to last year or to 2021 and even before Covid? Which days are the most crowded? These are all key indicators for real estate investors that can support making sound, informed judgements – where premium investment is vital.

By capturing geographic movement and – anonymised – demographic detail, developers and investors can see live and historic detail on demographic segmentation; aiding real estate market forecasting as to who these groups are and what they care about.

We are a dedicated and experienced team who first work to identify your needs, and will recommend the right Huq tools to get the intelligence you need. Huq works directly with you to ensure alignment with your Board, your business objectives, and aspirations. And our user-friendly and tailorable dashboard software lets you see the detail in the data and help join the dots.

You can rely on us to provide a supportive environment to make game-changing decisions, as we did with Aviva Investors.

As Jonathan Bayfield Head of UK Real Estate Research at Aviva Investors told us, Huq data “helps [Aviva] to make better investment decisions and allows us to appropriately manage risk on behalf of our investor clients.

“[For instance] Huq’s mobility data allows us to measure footfall, almost in real time, by submarket and by region.”

We are trusted by over 300 partners, including Aviva Investors, Colliers, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, not to mention major retailers, news institutions, and over 100 government bodies and university research teams.

Decision making is only as good as the data you put into it, and we’ve looked at how footfall, density, catchment, and dwell all add up to provide a real-time picture of a destination, and a place to call home.

We would love to engage our world class location intelligence suite, to help you make the right decisions when it comes to strategic and – ultimately profitable – property investment. We welcome the chance to support your real estate strategy, empowering you with the accuracy and reliability of real-time insights that will make the future come alive with possibility. Visit Real Estate – Huq Industries to book a demo, we’d love to talk and show you around.