Advanced property valuation techniques and valuation accuracy: Deciphering the artificial neural network technique

Property valuation end-users generally rely on property value opinion provided by valuers in making informed real estate investment decisions. However, the inaccuracy of valuation estimates could be attributed to the adoption of inappropriate property valuation methods and such inaccurate estimates could mislead real estate investors and stakeholders. This could result in individual loss and national loss due to the importance of the real estate sector to the national economy. Therefore, this study aims to examine the application of advanced property valuation techniques with special emphasis on the artificial neural network (ANN) technique in estimating accurate property values. A detailed review of the literature on issues involved in property valuation was conducted. The issues presented in this paper include the origin of ANN, its strength and weaknesses in comparison with other valuation approaches, its application both in theory and in practice, requirements for application in property valuation, valuers' response to its adoption, amongst others. It was found that the ANN technique could produce on the average accurate and reliable estimates but has not been widely adopted in practice. Thereafter, the challenges ahead in bridging the gap between theory and practice of the application of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques were discussed. In addition, the strategies of facilitating this paradigm shift to achieve a global sustainable property valuation practice are presented in this paper