The mortgage industry is adopting AI for underwriting, sales, origination and now property analysis. 

A labor productivity analysis by the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that AI applied to knowledge work could unlock $430 billion to $550 billion in annual value globally across real estate, construction and development. 

“Real estate decisions rely on a significant amount of information that has historically been difficult to standardize and analyze at scale and property imagery is one of the clearest examples of that,” Kenon Chen, executive vice president of strategy and growth at real estate valuation technology and data analytics company Clear Capital, told FinAi News.  

To get into the property imagery game, Clear Capital announced its acquisition of AI-powered real estate image recognition company Restb.ai on May 12.  

“Demand for faster, more data-driven decisions in mortgage and real estate continues to accelerate and this acquisition strengthens Clear Capital’s ability to meet that need,” Chen said. 

Restb.ai, founded in 2015, uses AI to analyze property photos and extract structured data around condition, features and quality, Chen said.  

One way Restb.ai uses AI is to determine the quality and condition of a property based on images, according to the company. Using AI, the images are scored on a scale of 6.0 to 1.0, disrepair to luxury, based on standards set by Fannie Mae’s appraisal requirements. 

“AI is helping make valuation workflows more data-driven by turning information that has traditionally been difficult for machines to consume — like property photos, floor plans and condition indicators — into structured, usable data,” Chen said.  

Acquisition details

Integration of Restb.ai has begun and will be phased in, Chen said. 

That acquisition follows Clear Capital’s 2021 acquisition of digital floor plan technology provider CubiCasa, Chen said.  

“Restb.ai adds the image intelligence layer Clear Capital needed to create a more complete view of the property, complementing CubiCasa’s digital floor plan technology and Clear Capital’s valuations and analytics,” Chen said. 

Clear Capital declined to disclose the financial terms of the acquisition. 

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