Author: John Clapp and Mauricio Rodriguez

Start Page: 35
End Page: 56
Volume: 16
Issue Number: 1
Year: 1998
Publication: Journal of Real Estate Research

Abstract: Many databases used for real estate market analysis are not available at the address level. For example, information on employment and unemployment may be available only for labor market areas; and Census data is typically tabulated for blocks or higher levels of spatial aggregation. A Geographic Information System (GIS) associates these spatially aggregated data with the geographical center of the area. This poses special problems when we use a GIS to evaluate linkages between supply and demand. This article presents some solutions to this problem; methods that are relatively easy to implement on a GIS are emphasized. A GIS can be used to calculate a theoretical average travel distance to the population in the geographical area. We propose ways to determine when these theoretical distances are inadequate approximations; and we provide alternatives for these situations.