Hometrack

A UK property data and valuation company, founded in 1999 and now part of Houseful, whose automated valuations are used by most of the UK's biggest mortgage lenders.

About Hometrack

Hometrack provides property valuations and market information. Its own page says it supplies fast, accurate residential property market intelligence and valuations, which lenders, investors, advisers, developers and housing associations use to decide where to invest and develop, what to lend on and how to manage their property assets. Its best-known product is the automated valuation model, or AVM, a computer system that estimates what a home is worth from data rather than a visit by a surveyor. The company says it provides over 50 million automated valuations each year.

The company was founded in the UK in 1999. It launched its AVM in 2002 and expanded to Australia in 2007. It says that 17 of the top 20 UK lenders use its services, and press releases on its site refer to work with HSBC, Nationwide, Virgin Money and Atom bank. It is also a founding member of the European AVM Alliance and has worked with the partner CRIF to expand in Europe and Asia-Pacific. The page we read states no mission or values and names no founders, so we have not invented any.

Hometrack is now one of three businesses in the Houseful property group, alongside Zoopla and Alto Software Group, according to Houseful's own website, which describes it as providing valuation and risk data for mortgage lenders. Houseful is headquartered in London. The page we read for Hometrack does not list UK offices, so we can confirm only that it is a UK company, founded in the UK, serving UK lenders and part of a London-headquartered group. Job listing sites also carry Hometrack pages, but we did not use them.

We found no first-hand material about the culture or the size of the team, so we cannot describe what it is like to work there. The most useful guide is the type of work: the company sits between property, banking and data, and its customers are professional lenders rather than the public, which usually means careful, accurate work where small errors matter.

The roles involved in a valuation data company include data scientists and statisticians who build and test the valuation models, software and data engineers, analysts who monitor the housing market, account managers who work with banks, risk and compliance specialists, and product managers. Maths, statistics, economics and computing are common backgrounds. If you are interested in how house prices are measured and how banks decide how much to lend, Hometrack is a good example of a UK company working in that area. Check the Houseful website for the current structure and vacancies.

What they do

• {'desc': "Computer-based estimates of a home's value for lenders.", 'title': 'Automated valuations'}
• {'desc': 'Housing market data for lenders, investors and developers.', 'title': 'Market intelligence'}
• {'desc': 'Information that helps lenders assess lending risk on property.', 'title': 'Risk data'}

Key facts

• Founded in the UK in 1999; AVM launched 2002; Australian expansion 2007
• Says 17 of the top 20 UK lenders use it
• Said to provide over 50 million automated valuations a year
• Now part of Houseful, a London-headquartered property group

Website: www.hometrack.com