OUTLOOK
POST-PANDEMIC ADOPTION
The on-going coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the development and application of proptech . While social distancing may affect onsite sales , further deployment of VR / AR showrooms and increased application of big data and artificial intelligence into marketing and sales processes have helped real estate marketers to continue sales operations . Preventive health measures against the pandemic have further encouraged smart applications at the workplace and home . We believe proptech applications will be broadened and embedded in real estate industry practice in a post-pandemic world .
“ We believe asset or property management will become the area that drives the next generation of proptech development and investment , as the advances of big data , IoT and artificial intelligence support further proptech development .”
Currently , the development of proptech has been focusing on the following areas :
• Marketing and sales – For real estate marketing , we have already seen the impact of the advances in VR / AR on promoting real estate sales . With advances in big data , cloud computing and artificial intelligence , the real estate industry has further adopted more robust customer relationship management ( CRM ) applications to its marketing and sales operations . The adoption of more powerful CRM applications allowed better identification of sales opportunities , customer acquisition and expectation management , as well as project management .
• Property transactions – Property transaction has always been a complex process due to information asymmetry and involvement of multiple parties with diverse interests . While the first generation of proptech has gained ground in aggregation , marketplace and direct-listings , further development in the area of property transactions has been limited . With advances in blockchain technology , the use of blockchain to build an open system for property transaction ledgers and exchanges of property become more prevalent . However , the challenge of utilising blockchain technology for property exchanges has always been regulatory , especially in bridging the technological advances with oversight from authorities .
• Property management / asset management – One area of proptech application that has gained traction within the real estate market has been asset management , which includes lease management , tenant management , smart home and smart workspace , digitalisation of property management , asset maintenance and asset enhancement . From the perspective of landlords , these tasks of asset management are tedious and costly in terms of money spent , as well as time and efforts involved . However , they are necessary in keeping and adding value to an asset . Thus , the development of proptech has given the landlords opportunity to deploy more efficient property management solutions . The advances in cloud computing and Internet of Things ( IoT ) technologies have allowed increased digitalisation and automation in lease management , space utilisation management , day-to-day operations and maintenance , which do not only accelerate the development of platform sharing operations ( e . g . co-working space and co-living space ) but also help investors / landlords with multiple assets to gain economies of scale in property management . Another proptech application to property management in selected countries is the solar energy system : starting as a cost-saving tool , it has also become a new source of revenue .
NEXTGEN TECH TO DRIVE ASSET MANAGEMENT
In a post-coronavirus pandemic world , we believe proptech to be further entrenched in the different segments of the real estate industry , as the pandemic also pushes the real estate industry players to improve cost efficiency and to deploy technology to satisfy customer needs . Notably , we believe asset or property management will become the area that drives the next generation of proptech development and investment , as the advances of big data , IoT and artificial intelligence support further proptech development . Asset management / property management has also been less penetrated by technology , which means the potential for cost-savings and efficiency gains by deploying proptech is substantial .
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patrick Ma , CFA has served as Admiral ’ s Research Director since 2016 and subsequently Admiral ’ s Director , Listed Products and Research . Patrick is responsible for the investment research that backs all of Admiral ’ s investment advices and management activities . He is also responsible for Admiral ’ s products in the listed space . Patrick has over 20 years of experience in the securities markets .
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