Ryan Mahoney (Dubai, UAE) is the CEO of CenCorp, a group of companies comprising several real estate-related businesses. He also serves as CEO of Better Homes. This article will explore the potential of proptech, investigating its scope to change the landscape of the real estate sector forever.
Technological advancements have catalyzed digital enablement across virtually every industry in recent years. The real estate sector is no exception. Spurred on by increasing digitization combined with consumer demand for greater convenience, the real estate sector has become increasingly receptive to disruptive technologies, sparking a rise in specialized tech companies focusing on real estate asset and property management – an arena known today as ‘proptech’.
Proptech’s scope has expanded considerably in recent years, branching off into various specialties including information transparency, virtual viewings, AI-powered valuations, blockchain transactions and online listings, among others. According to a report published by KPMG, proptech secured record levels of investment in 2019, attracting $2.6 billion in global funding – $1 billion more than the sector garnered in 2016.
Increased demand for proptech-related services could be attributed to digital transformation throughout the real estate industry, including areas such as predictive analytics, asset digitization, IoT in workplace management, data analytics surrounding market performance, and predictive analytics in real estate asset performance.
Since many of these technologies are new, they provide scope for proptech companies to innovate and develop solutions tailored to specific technology subsets, facilitating implementation of these innovative new technologies within real estate portfolios.
There is vast potential for technology to enhance every part of the journey for property managers, landlords, tenants and others throughout the property ecosystem, with digitization improving efficiency, creating transparency, and helping everyone to make better informed decisions. Technology empowers seamless and consistent experiences within the real estate sector, from online payments and contracts to virtual tours.
Disruptive technologies like proptech change the way that consumers, businesses and entire industries operate, sweeping away outdated and ineffective systems and paving the way for progress by replacing them with systems that are recognizably superior.
Risk-taking companies leverage the potential of disruptive technology to help them make their own operations smoother and more efficient, as well as to enable them to expand their reach and target new markets. Meanwhile, market rivals that fail to heed the effects of disruptive technology can quickly find themselves left by the wayside, losing their market share.
The pandemic has forced companies and entire industries to re-evaluate how they operate and do business. The real estate industry is ripe for disruption. In Dubai, digitization has largely been substantiated by the evolution of the emirate’s smart ecosystem, including adoption of innovative services and projects such as the integration of AI into the Dubai Land Department’s real estate valuation process – reducing valuation processing time to a mere 15 seconds and cutting costs by 20% in the process.
Digital platforms have made real estate more affordable and accessible, with numerous real estate investment solutions adopting a crowdfunding model to encourage both novice and seasoned investors.
Moving forward, a range of tech companies appear poised to integrate similar disruptive technologies in the real estate sector, changing the landscape of the Dubai property market forever.
