Banton Technologies' Most Accurate Residential Evaluations Available Nationally; Company's ValueWizard 3.0 product to assess all regions of the United States in 2003.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 2002

Banton Technologies, a collateral assessment firm specializing in real estate technology and residential appraisal solutions, announced the availability of its ValueWizard 3.0 home evaluations assessment tool for all national regions in January 2003.

Previously, ValueWIzard 3.0 had only been available in the Southeastern United States. The company had delayed expansion of its product into other regions until it was certain it could deliver the same accuracy level as it had in the Southeast. ValueWizard 3.0 is a more accurate property evaluation model than the average automated valuation models (AVMs), which the company proudly boasts as the financial industry's most accurate assessment solution - often doubling the rate of usable valuations compared to others.

According to company officials, some AVM providers have relied heavily on county and city tax information and indexes to determine a predicted value for a residential property. Others have built their AVMs using a regression analysis forecasting method in which the value of the dependent variable (the property being appraised) is predicted as a function of two or more variables (other nearby properties and their characteristics). Because multiple regression analysis typically involves several independent variables, computing the regression equation coefficients can be difficult and may miss some important characteristic variables.

While Banton's ValueWizard 3.0 uses these variables in its model, it relies most on real residential property information, such as recent sales comparables. ValueWizard 3.0 is an "expert system" AVM. It incorporates knowledge-based systems in which expert human knowledge and experience (an appraiser in a box) has been converted to rules for the AVM to use. Banton's AVM evaluates different situations, always trying to perform as the appraiser would have performed if they were valuing the property.

"As the financial industry continues in its efforts to improve efficiencies and lower costs, lenders and investors are taking a closer look at the value that AVM technology brings to the table," said Dr. Stan Banton, chairman and founder of Banton Technologies. "When we first introduced ValueWizard 3.0, we were committed to delivering the best, most accurate AVM possible to the Southeast. Now it's time to share it with the rest of the country and we anticipate being the top AVM provider in the nation by the end of 2003."

Banton currently provides valuations for approximately 80 percent of the orders received for Southeast properties and provides usable valuations for 60 percent of all such orders.

"We redesigned ValueWizard to afford our Southeastern clients with even higher success rates," said Chris Upp, chief information officer at Banton Technologies. "Now, ValueWizard 3.0 will provide customers throughout the United States with the full capabilities of our multiple data sources."

Banton Technologies currently provides residential property valuation data to some of the largest financial institutions in the Southeast including Bank of America, AmSouth, Regions Bank and SouthTrust.

About Banton Technologies

Founded in 1997 by Dr. Stan Banton, PhD, MAI, Banton Technologies is a collateral assessment firm specializing in real estate technology and residential appraisal solutions. Through a combination of an enhanced Automated Valuation Model (AVM), ValueWizard, personal interaction and integrated mapping software technology, Banton Technologies achieves much higher accuracy than most standard AVMs. Banton's technology was recently recognized as one of ten finalists in the 2002 Inman News Innovator Awards.

The company utilizes a Property Review Report to collect basic tax-related data on the subject property in conjunction with a robust AVM, ValueWizard, which employs geo-statistical formulae to return a highly accurate property value. Banton Technologies currently uses multiple sources of data to provide valuation capability in over 500 counties throughout the Southeast U.S., making it the most comprehensive AVM for this region. For additional information about Banton Technologies, please visit the company's Web site www.banton.com.