Multicriteria Evaluation in Real Estate Land-use Suitability Analysis: The case of Volos, Greece

Sammanfattning: The integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into real estate analysis has long been considered an interesting interdisciplinary pursuit, but has yet to become mainstream. Despite the increasing academic focus over the last twenty years, this endeavour has mostly been approached from the scientific side of Geography. Inversely, such focus from the real estate sector remains marginal. Notably, there is an expanding theoretical and empirical basis supporting the importance of further exploring the GIS and Real Estate integration potential. Besides, the real estate sector is being increasingly scrutinised regarding the transparency and validity of decision-making practises. GIS-based analysis can help meet such requirements. The present research looked into the role of GIS in real estate analysis. The aim was to apply multicriteria evaluation techniques for real estate land-use suitability analysis in the Greek coastal city of Volos. The multicriteria evaluation of land-use suitability was examined based on selected spatial criteria related to real estate values in the study area, using the non-fuzzy and fuzzy method of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The analysis focused on the Commercial, Office and Residential land-uses. Research findings showed that fuzzy AHP should always be considered in terms of providing more accurate spatial weights compared to the non-fuzzy AHP, but whether the one will be selected over the other is dependent on context and the resources needed. The AHP analysis provided clear classification of suitability for the land-uses examined. Validity of the AHP output was assessed by using correlation analysis. The research also focused on the spatial criteria weight extraction methods, which are not often detailed in relevant studies. Based on the findings, attention is needed when using pairwise comparison matrices (PCMs) for weighting spatial criteria, if the participants have no prior experience with such processes. Also, fuzzification of PCMs should not overextend unless necessary. Linked to the above, live interviews conducted provided consistent PCMs. Acknowledging integration challenges like time and data constraints, this research confirmed the potential for GIS-based multicriteria evaluation to improve real estate decision-making.