Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Radar Logic?
What does Radar Logic do?
What is RPX™?
What is the Radar Logic Daily™
Price?
How are the Prices used?
How are the Prices measured?
What is included in the Prices?
What Prices are published?
When are the Prices published?
Who uses the Prices?
Where can I find the Prices?
How quickly do the Prices reflect rapidly
changing market conditions?
Does it matter how long it has been since
a house was last sold?
Will Radar Logic offer Commercial Real
Estate Prices?
What are derivatives markets?
Are there map
outlines of the different MSAs available on
your website?
Who
is Radar Logic?
Radar Logic is a technology-driven research and analytics business founded
for the purpose of enabling financial derivatives based on real estate.
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What
does Radar Logic do?
Radar Logic uses state-of-the-art mathematical techniques to create Daily
Prices derived from the actual prices paid for real estate. We are initially
focused on residential real estate.
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What
is RPX™?
The Residential Property Index™ (RPX) is the market in which financial
instruments based on the Radar Logic
Daily Prices are traded by licensed dealers and their clients.
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What
is the Radar Logic Daily™ Price?
The Radar Logic Daily Price is
a single value representing the price per square
foot paid in a defined metropolitan area on any given day. Data are gathered
from public source records and then translated by our proprietary algorithms
into a statistically accurate and robust reflection of the values paid in
actual arm's-length real estate transactions.
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How
are the Prices used?
The Radar Logic Daily Prices are licensed as the basis for the development of real estate forwards and
options derivatives and structured financial products. These financial instruments
are in turn used to manage risk, create new products, and take positions
regarding the direction of the real estate market.
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How
are the Prices measured?
Prices are measured in price per square foot (PPSF), a common metric used
by brokers, builders and other real estate professionals.
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What
is included in the Prices?
Radar Logic includes every valid, arm's-length sale available to us within
63 days of its "closing" date, including
new homes, condominiums, cooperatives, house "flips", even foreclosures.
Records must include sale price, square footage and a closing date. No arbitrary restraints or exclusions are imposed on the raw data – what's
sold is what's measured.
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What
Prices are published?
Radar Logic Daily Prices are published
for 25 major metropolitan areas in the United States and the Manhattan
Condominium market. In addition, we publish a Composite representing
all 25 MSAs. We intend to expand our coverage to include more metropolitan
areas. To see the areas currently covered, click
here.
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When
are the Prices published?
The Daily Prices are published
each business day to provide a "spot market" price for real estate. We impose a 63-day lag between the sale date and the
publication of prices for that sale date to allow us to capture the majority
of transactions that have occurred.
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Who
uses the Prices?
Radar Logic's end users are primarily institutions engaged in or supporting
the real estate industry as well as sophisticated financial institutions.
These may include:
- Home Builders
- Real Estate Developers
- Commercial Lenders
- REITs
- Real Estate Brokerage firms
- Pension Funds
- Hedge Funds
- Insurance Companies
- Other Financial Institutions
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Where
can I find the Prices?
We publish the Daily Prices on
our website, www.radarlogic.com. To view them,
click on the "Daily
Prices" button on any of our web pages.
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How
quickly do the Prices reflect rapidly changing market conditions?
The Radar Logic Daily Prices are
published each business day, as soon as possible after public record reporting
of actual closings (a lag of not more than 63 days for the metropolitan
areas we cover). The prices represent the best surrogate available for a
"spot market" for residential real estate.
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Does
it matter how long it has been since a house was last sold?
It makes no difference. Rather than interpreting select elements of the
data available, the Daily Price is
a representation of the statistical value evident in the full data.
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Will
Radar Logic offer Commercial Real Estate Prices?
Plans are underway to publish Radar Logic Commercial Prices. More
details will follow.
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What
are derivatives markets?
A derivative is a financial instrument used to trade or manage the asset
upon which the instrument is based. It "derives" its value from something
else (another asset or instrument). Derivatives are most often used to manage
risk or to take positions on future market directions.
Derivatives exist for a wide range of assets, such as commodities (gold,
oil, corn), stocks and bonds, and on indexes, such as the Dow Jones Index®. Until now, there have been few derivatives markets for residential real
estate. Radar Logic Incorporated was founded for the purpose of enabling
financial derivatives based on real estate.
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Are there map outlines of the different MSAs available on your website?
We do not have them on our site at the moment, but the Census Bureau has a good library at: http://www.census.gov/geo/www/maps/CP_MapProducts.htm (note the section titled “Metropolitan Areas Maps”).
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Does the map
match exactly with your MSA/county definitions?
Yes, for everywhere except New
York (where we include Fairfield County, CT). Note that some MSAs are
comprised of multiple metropolitan divisions.
We therefore recommend consulting the county
lists in the
MSA disclosures.