From bricks to bytes: real estate’s data awakening

At a time when data and technology are reshaping the real estate landscape, Jenny Van Zyp, General Manager of Data Science and Insights at Stockland, took the stage at the Property Council of Australia’s Shaping the Future of the Property Sector event to share her insights.

For a sector built on bricks and mortar, it might seem counterintuitive that the real estate industry’s next great leap forward is happening in the invisible realm of data. 

But make no mistake: the future of real estate is being shaped not just by physical assets, but by how well companies harness data to inform smarter, faster and more transparent decision-making. 

Global capital is flowing towards businesses that provide transparency, predictive insights and decision making based on data, which is the connective tissue between digital capabilities and operational execution.  

The industry’s capital partners want clarity, not guesswork. They expect rigorous, real-time insights that can only come from well-governed, integrated data systems. And to deliver against these increasing expectations requires a recognition that data is no longer just a by-product of operations. 

That’s where the challenge begins. We need to get better at managing data so we can eliminate manual work-arounds and workflows to leverage the opportunities presented by automation and artificial intelligence. 

While many real estate companies have made strides in building data warehouses, most are still sitting on sprawling, unstructured data sets - underutilised, disconnected, and full of untapped potential. Without strong foundations in data management and governance, the promise of automation and AI remains just that: a promise. 

AI can do incredible things, but it’s only as good as the data it’s fed. Incomplete, siloed or inaccurate data doesn't just lead to bad insights - it can lead to risky automation and costly mistakes. That’s why the “boring stuff” matters: getting your house in order with clean, governed, and well-prepared data is now business critical. 

But this transformation isn’t just technical. It’s cultural. 

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The property sector has traditionally relied on experience and instinct, with data playing a supporting role. To unlock the true value of digital transformation, companies must invest in people - raising data literacy, embedding cross-functional collaboration, and building the confidence and capability to work with data at every level. 

The payoff? Huge. Companies that lean into data driven transformation stand to benefit from sharper competitive advantage, improved efficiency, and elevated experiences for both employees and customers. 

At Stockland, we’re digitising strategic workflows beyond our core operations through proprietary digital tools – building a rich data ecosystem that, when paired with advanced analytics and AI, empowers better decision-making and unlocks productivity gains. 

We're levelling up by turning data into a strategic asset, putting powerful insights in the hands of people ready to use them to drive impact. 

For example, Terra, our proprietary and tailored geospatial intelligence platform, continues to improve the way our teams explore, track and evaluate land acquisition opportunities across Australia. Terra is increasing the productivity and efficiency of our teams by reducing time spent on research, analysis and decision-making. We are now scaling Terra beyond site acquisitions to go deeper into the value chain and across asset classes. 

We’re also bringing measurable social impact into our decision making with our Social IQ tool. Social IQ uses empirical data and research to forecast social value and factor social outcomes alongside commercial feasibility in our decision making. This enables long-term forecasting and reporting that can be shared with our partners including investors, government and community stakeholders. 

Beyond our own organisation, there’s a broader opportunity: industry-wide collaboration. 

The property sector is facing complex, systemic challenges - from housing affordability and ESG pressures to the global competition for capital. These aren’t problems one company can solve alone. Shared data initiatives, where appropriate, could enable better transparency, collective insights, and smarter decisions that benefit the whole sector. 

Yes, the data challenge is daunting. It demands investment, leadership and persistence. But as the old saying goes: the magic we're looking for is in the work we're avoiding. 

And in this case, that magic lies in the messy, behind-the-scenes work of collecting, transforming and governing data - work that, when done well, has the power to transform not just companies, but our entire industry.