MAIN IMAGE: Sara Winstone, Managing Director at Lightstone Property
Press release
Lightstone proudly announces its acceptance into the prestigious European AVM Alliance (EAA) with its Artificially Intelligent Valuation Model (AiVM) – an AI-powered AVM launched well ahead of its time in 2020. This recognition marks Lightstone as the first African organisation, and only organisation outside of Europe, to achieve this significant milestone.
After a rigorous and comprehensive auditing process, Lightstone’s AiVM earned the EAA’s coveted accreditation, validating its independence, reliability, and adherence to global standards.
This landmark achievement underscores Lightstone’s 19-year commitment to marrying innovation with credibility, while positioning itself as a leader in automated property valuations, not only in South Africa but on the global stage.
“Lightstone’s entry into the EAA is a testament to our unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence. As the first African organisation to achieve this, we’re proud to be setting a new standard in the property valuation space,” said Sara Winstone, Managing Director at Lightstone Property. “This recognition validates our dedication to providing clients with independent and robust insights they can trust, empowering them to make fast and informed decisions that will have a positive impact on their clients and businesses.”
Setting the standard for AI-driven excellence in Africa
When Lightstone launched its ground-breaking AiVM, it disrupted traditional automated valuation models by leveraging cutting-edge machine learning techniques to deliver unparalleled improvements in accuracy and coverage. But they didn’t stop there. Knowing the importance of ensuring the highest global standards, Lightstone engaged the EAA – the bastion of AVM standards globally –– to undergo its rigorous evaluation process. Today, this accreditation reinforces the model’s independence, credibility and robustness, instilling added confidence for its clients, who rely on this integrity to ensure consistency, quality and consumer trust in the property valuations they use.
A milestone for clients
This accreditation isn’t just a win for Lightstone, it’s also a win for its clients and the South African property market as a whole. While banks rely on the Lightstone AiVM to assess whether home purchases are in line with independent market values before granting loans, Estate Agents also benefit from the model’s ability to power tools like Lightstone Property’s Toolkit, enabling smarter price counselling strategies and accelerated deal closures.
“Our AiVM incorporated a range of machine learning methodologies well ahead of its time and with our commitment to building AI that is explainable, ethical and empowers our clients, it was built to meet these standards. We conducted rigorous testing with clients during its rollout but also wanted to distinguish this lending grade AVM from less reliable valuation methods used in the market. The decisions our clients make based on the insights we provide impact thousands of South Africans every day, so it was imperative to give our clients full confidence that they were using a world-class insights product,” said Paul-Roux de Kock, Chief Analytics Officer at Lightstone.
“We are proud that this independent external review of Lightstone’s AiVM affirms that our technology is not just innovative but also stable, robust, and fit for this purpose. As an associate member of the EAA, we also look forward to continuous evaluation of our AiVM’s quality while actively contributing to the EAA’s workgroups on Analytics, Communication, and Regulatory and Public Affairs.”
The EAA seal of approval
The EAA is a pan-European, non-profit organisation, dedicated to promoting the highest standards and transparency in automated property valuations. Its members include leading AVM providers, who collectively set the benchmark for quality across the industry. The accreditation signifies compliance with the highest standards, providing Lightstone’s clients with an added layer of trust in the integrity of its leadership, as much as its products.
“It is a great pleasure to welcome Lightstone as the leading South African AVM provider into our association as our first ever associate member. We are particularly excited to see that the central aim of the EAA to set the highest possible technical standards for AVMs in the property valuation industry has been so successful that we have reached beyond Europe to attract an outstanding African company. We all look forward to working together to expand further on what we have already accomplished”, says Stefano Magnolfi, Chairman of the EAA.
Leading through innovation
Lightstone’s commitment to innovation has cemented its position as a leader in the African property market for over 19 years. From pioneering AI-driven solutions to launching tools that enable superhuman efficiency, Lightstone continues to deliver forward-thinking solutions for its clients.
“As the global conversation around AI and AVM regulation intensifies, Lightstone’s partnership with the EAA ensures that our products remain ahead of the curve, while ensuring the integrity, robustness and regulatory preparedness needed to ensure long-term sustainability for our clients.” added de Kock.