Estimation of Residential Property Market Price: Comparison of Artificial Neural Networks and Hedonic Pricing Model

Abstract

The correct real estate property price estimation is significant not only in the real estate market but also in the banking sector for collateral loans and the insurance sector for property insurance. The paper focuses on both traditional and advanced methods for real estate property valuation. Attention is paid to the analysis of the accuracy of valuation models. From traditional methods, a regression model is used for residential property price estimation, which represents the hedonic approach. Modern advanced valuation methods are represented by the artificial neural network, which is one of the soft computing techniques. The results of both methods in residential property market price estimation are compared. The analysis is performed using data on residential properties sold on the real estate market in the city of Nitra in the Slovak Republic. To estimate the residential property prices, artificial neural networks trained with the Levenberg-Marquart learning algorithm, the Bayesian Regularization learning algorithm, and the Scaled Conjugate Gradient learning algorithm, and the regression pricing model are used. Among the constructed neural networks, the best results are achieved with networks trained with the Regularization learning algorithm with two hidden layers. Its performance is compared with the performance of the regression pricing model, and it can state that artificial neural networks can considerably improve prediction accuracy in the estimation of residential property market price. Doi: 10.28991/esj-2020-01250 Full Text: PDF