3 Keypoints How Great PropTech Helps In Property Industry
Property technology — known as “proptech” for short — first appeared over 10 years ago when sites like Property Guru enabled buyers to search for property listings online and connect with an agent for a viewing.
Now, it’s the norm for online property listings to include tech-enabled features like 360-degree virtual tours, mortgage calculators, and mobile apps.
Proptech has since grown by leaps and bounds, and the global property industry is on the cusp of being disrupted.
Riding on the coattails of fintech, proptech is the digitization of processes in the property industry to improve functions related to real estate. It uses technology and software to solve problems in operations, marketing and transactions.
The last few years have made industry leaders sit up to take notice, largely due to a surge in proptech start-ups and substantial investments.
It’s been reported that investment in property technology went from $33 million in 2010 to over $5 billion in 2017 — a huge signal that transformation is underway.
Below, we briefly look at how proptech has already begun to transform the property industry.
PropTech is driving greater transparency in Asia-Pacific’s property market
Australia, the UK, North America and some parts of Europe are the most transparent property markets in the world, in large part due to its early adoption of proptech.
Asia-Pacific, however, is catching up at lightning speeds, according to reports.
Australia ranks as the world’s second most transparent real estate market while Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan aren’t too far behind and have the potential to be “highly transparent” markets as well.
Singapore ranked 12th while Hong Kong came in 13th and Japan ranked 14th globally for real estate transparency in 2018.
Malaysia’s ranking as the 30th most transparent property market in the world signals that there’s more to be done.
PropTech is making real estate transactions faster
Well on its way to becoming a blockchain-powered government, Dubai has ambitions to merge all real estate and department-related services to a single digital platform.
Traditionally, real estate transactions in Dubai would take anywhere from a week to 20 days to complete — a result of processes filled with heavy paperwork and manual reporting.
Today, thanks to digitizing its property transactions, it can be done in a mere 30 minutes.
Administrative tasks and paperwork that tend to slow down real estate professionals can benefit greatly from property technologies.
By digitizing paperwork and simplifying processes, the entire sales function in real estate would be able to move faster with less human error and more productivity.
At ProSales, we provide property developers with user-friendly software that automates admin tasks and provides real-time sales reports. Speak to us today about the benefits of digitizing your workflow.
PropTech is enhancing the buyer’s experience
While buyers today can easily access property listings online, their entire experience still has room to improve, especially when it comes to viewing the actual property.
In response to this, property developers are turning towards 360-degree views, 3D models, walkthroughs, augmented reality and virtual reality of properties.
Virtual viewing of properties are more immersive and hold attention for much longer than photos and text. When the experience is more memorable and positive for buyers, it helps move them along the path to purchase.
Virtual tours are also useful in attracting potential buyers located in different states or overseas. By providing them with an impressive virtual viewing experience, developers increase the opportunity to generate leads and close sales.
A property site visit in person after a virtual viewing would then be more time and cost efficient for both buyers and sellers, as it would presumptively mean that the buyer is seriously considering the property.
PropTech is enabling convenience for property professionals
The digitization of traditional processes has undeniably improved how we work and live.
Look at emails, for example.
It’s largely replaced faxing and snail mail, and enabled businesses to work faster and smarter.
Proptech software and platforms are doing the same for the property industry.
Web-based systems are designed with property developers in mind and are often easy to learn and user-friendly. Paired with mobile apps for added convenience, these systems can be easily accessed on a smartphone from anywhere at anytime.
Sales teams would be able to instantly check on units availability while senior management teams can access real-time sales reports.
The future of the property industry will be tech-enabled. Are property developers ready for it?
Start with the basics and ask yourself, “How can we use technology to improve the fundamental things first, like how our teams work?”
“Where are our teams spending unnecessary time performing tasks that can be automated?”
At ProSales, we help property developers digitize their sales process to improve efficiency and increase savings. Contact us today to schedule a demo.