Inman

Hyperlocal real estate search takes another step forward

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Neighborhood boundary and community data provider Maponics has snapped up an arsenal of additional neighborhood boundaries to beef up and refine its existing data set.

The acquisition of data boundaries from Urban Mapping will help Maponics further empower real estate websites to offer search tools that let prospective buyers filter for homes in small communities that may occupy only a fraction of larger neighborhoods.

Maponics claims giant real estate portals Zillow, Trulia and realtor.com among its clients, and also provides data to Redfin, Century 21 and Realtors Property Resource.

The 100,000 neighborhood boundaries in 40 countries that Maponics has gobbled up through the acquisition of Urban Mapping’s data set will complement Maponics’ new “Communities” data product.

Real estate search sites that incorporate Communities data can allow consumers to hone in on homes in distinct communities that can form around “social objects” like hospitals, national parks, school grounds and military bases.

Consumers could use searches powered by Maponics’ Communities data to discover listings within a five-minute walk of a dog-friendly park that’s big enough for a dog to run in, said Maponics CEO Dan Adams.

Maponics will check its boundaries against Urban Mapping’s boundaries to add, tweak or validate its data set.

For example, Maponics can use new data set to identify and capture additional and alternate naming information, which would ultimately have the effect of accommodating more searches performed by prospective buyers online.

Email Teke Wiggin.