Alma Talent’s services provide banks the information needed for sustainable loan decisions

Alma Media Corporation                  Press release                   27 November, 2023

ALMA TALENT'S SERVICES PROVIDE BANKS THE INFORMATION NEEDED FOR SUSTAINABLE LOAN DECISIONS 

The sustainable financial framework EU taxonomy is a tool that facilitates and encourages companies to reach their carbon neutrality goals. Taxonomy allows for example banks to determine how environmentally friendly or sustainable the potential funding project is. Alma Talent's services are able to provide the data needed for the decision-making.  

The impacts of real estate business and housing on the environment and society are of wide concern to the financial sector, as up to 36% of the carbon footprint is due to greenhouse gas emissions from the building stock. The goal of the European Union's Green Deal Programme is a carbon-neutral union by 2050, which means that banks play a significant role in lending low-emission properties. Banks will have to assess the environmental friendliness of the target in question when granting the loan in accordance with the EU Taxonomy. Banks also have to report on the taxonomy of their collateral portfolio and their plan for how  climate and other sustainability risks have been taken into account in the strategy and business model, as well as the transition to a climate-neutral economy.   

“The challenge for banks is to find the correct and up-to-date information on potential projects to be funded and to gather it as a basis for decision-making. The information is scattered across different locations, for example at the National Land Survey of Finland, the Energy Certificate Register of The Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland, and The Finnish Population Information System,” says Laura Leskinen, Development Manager, Property Insights at Alma Talent.  

“For assessing the environmental impact of residential or commercial properties, banks need information on the heating systems of the site, energy efficiency, environmental risks, and the future renovation needs of the site, i.e. the repair debt. Alma Talent's smart property insight services provide the data needed for decision-making with a single service," says Leskinen. 

Data modeling supplements missing information  

Alma Talent's AI-based Asuntopuntari and Aluepuntari provide the financial sector with the information needed to assess collateral items in real time and from a single source. Asuntopuntari gives its user a view of the overall sustainability of the property, its fair current and future value, and the potential sustainability risks of the property. With the help of the Aluepuntari, user will gain an understanding of the housing market trends in different regions, the population, construction and service structure, and the relationship between supply and demand.  Aluepuntari also enables the comparison of dirrerent residential areas.  

The more than 200 machine learning models of Asuntopuntari are based on Alma Media's online marketplaces Etuovi.com and Vuokraovi.com, whose 2.3 million listings form the base of the data. In forming future forecasts, Asuntopuntari also utilises a number of macroeconomic forecasts and indices in educating the artificial intelligence behind the service. Asuntopuntari covers the whole of Finland and is also able to give an estimate on addresses where there are no housing units yet. The median error in the forecast model is 5% for the most common target type price estimate and 2.8% for the rental estimate.  

"For example, if there is no information on the energy efficiency of a property, our machine learning-based modeling will eventually provide the decision maker with an estimate of the energy class and an estimate of the reliability of the data. To ensure that the entire housing stock of a bank or insurance company is also constantly updated and is possible to generate the necessary information for reporting, we also offer an automated update of the entire stock. In the future, there will also be an assessment of the competitive situation in the area, which naturally interests the financier so that (s)he can base the decisions on facts," describes Niilo Ursin, Business Director, Property Insights at Alma Talent.  

Alma Talent's Asuntopuntari and Aluepuntari are examples of Alma Media's comprehensive housing and real estate trade services bringing all involved parties together and enabling professionals to succeed in their own work with digital services and timely data. Services also  include Alma Talent's Property and Housing Search and Map Service, housing trade services OviPro and KIVI system, and Etuovi.com, the largest housing marketplace in Finland.  

For more information, please contact: Business Development Manager, Property Insights, Laura Leskinen, tel. 010 665 6416 and Business Director, Property Insights, Niilo Ursin, tel. 010 665 2570. 

Alma Media in brief

Alma Media is an international company of digital media, marketplaces and services with a strong capacity for renewal. We inspire human curiosity and choice by creating services that combine technology and content with a local heart. In Finland, our best-known brands include Kauppalehti, Talouselämä, Iltalehti, Jobly, Etuovi.com, Nettiauto and Nettimoto. Our recruitment services include prace.cz and jobs.cz in the Czech Republic, Profesia.sk in Slovakia and mojposao.net in Croatia.

In Finland, our business operations include leading housing and automotive marketplaces, financial and professional media, national consumer media and content and data services for businesses and professionals. Alma Media’s international business in Eastern Central Europe, Sweden and the Baltic countries consists of recruitment services and an online marketplace for commercial properties.

Alma Media operates in 12 countries in Europe and employs approximately 1,700 professionals. Alma Media’s revenue from continuing operations was EUR 309 million in 2022 of which the share of digital business was 81%. Alma Media’s share is listed on NASDAQ Helsinki. Read more at www.almamedia.fi/en/.

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