Match Type and Confidence
What match_type and confidence_score describe, and the questions they do not answer
A property search returns results ranked by how well each one answers your query. Three fields describe that ranking, and each measures something different.
| Field | Describes |
|---|---|
match_score | How strongly the property ranked against the whole query |
match_type | How the returned address compares to the address you supplied |
confidence_score | Strength of that address comparison, 0–100 |
distance_miles | Distance from the center point of a radius search |
What the match fields compare
match_type and confidence_score compare the address you supplied against the address on the returned property. Nothing else.
Both are null when there is no comparison to make — either side can be missing an address. A lookup by identifier supplies no input address, and a property can reach the dataset without a standardized one. Null means not assessed. It never means a poor match, and a missing address is never reported as a weak one.
What they do not tell you
Whether the parcel was the only candidate
Several parcels can share one street address. A parcel chosen from among three still matches the address you supplied exactly, so match_type: "exact" with confidence_score: 100 describes a perfect address match and says nothing about whether other parcels carry that address.
result_metadata.parcel_resolution on the owners endpoint is what answers that. See Find the Owner.
Whether the ownership data is right
An exact match says the response concerns the property you asked about. It makes no claim about whether the attached owners are accurate, complete, or current. Ownership is a separate claim resting on separate evidence — county recorder filings, which lag real transfers by weeks or months.
Strict matching
strict_match=true drops any result the API cannot verify against your address. A property with no standardized address can never be verified, so it never survives strict matching, whatever else it has on record.
This is the trade. Strict matching gives you results you can trust to be the address you asked for, at the cost of properties whose records are too thin to confirm. Leave it off when you would rather see a sparse record than nothing.
Person confidence is a different scale
Person records carry their own scores measuring confidence of association between a person and a phone or email. See Confidence Scores.
Related
Property V2 → V3
Field mapping and behavior changes when moving from /v2/property to /v3/property.
Property Search
Look up property records, ownership, and residents by address or parcel number
Find the Owner
Get the owners of a single property and see which parcel the answer came from
Confidence Scores
How to interpret person, phone, and email confidence scores
Search properties by address or APN
Search properties by address or by Assessor's Parcel Number. Nothing matching is a `404` carrying an empty `results` array, so a caller parses one shape either way. Each result links to its full record on the details endpoint, which is where `assessed_info` and mortgage history come from.