Analysis Trumps Data... The challenge today is not finding commercial real estate data. The torrent of data from real estate information providers has turned market statistics into a commodity. The challenge is selecting, refining and analyzing that information.

That's according to Justin Stein, Senior Managing Director-Marketing and Research at Newmark, who says that Newmark's clients want more analysis of "underlying economic conditions, demand drivers and leading indicators."

Stein and his colleagues generate this kind of macro analysis. And, just as importantly, combine this with the micro analysis of brokers in local markets. As to the potential conflict of research versus marketing, Stein believes that Newmark avoids this issue because they represent both sides of the transaction. There's a strong incentive not to bias their reporting to one side or the other.

Each of Newmark's offices has its own "portal." So for example, if you click on the New Jersey office, you'll only see New Jersey listings, personnel and research. The listings are powered by MrOfficeSpace, which Stein describes as "open to customization." So Newmark's listings have the look and feel of Newmark's own web site.

When Stein described "speed as the differentiating factor" for today's clients who expect "near instantaneous return of research," it struck a chord. Who among us doesn't want continuous connectivity to the data stream of business life?

Well, I guess there is one person, Stanley Bing, who writes a delightful column, Bye-bye, Blackberry, in the the current Fortune (Jan 10, 2005). After a Shakespearean ode to his "plastic fantastic love," he sorrowfully imagines dynamiting his Blackberry in order to gain his freedom as "a solitary man on the planet with the actual, honest noises of life around him and without a digital intermediary." That sentiment really got me smiling.

Spread the word... Many thanks to Harbinder Khera of MindMatrix, which provides software for marketing real estate, sponsor of this week's Dispatch. If you want to spread the word about your product or service, sponsor the Dispatch. Send e-mail or call 415-461-4703.

--Peter Pike