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Innovation in the Property Industry
Duration : 38:39
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The first, and most visible, arena of these changes has been in the research sphere of the home-buying process. As HSBC’s report notes, this phase is already highly digital, with 89% of recent home owners having done their research online; UK homebuyers were, of the populations surveyed, notably the most digitally active.
But being comfortable with digital research is only the start, and many sites—the likes of Rightmove and Zoopla—are effective but often blunt tools. Online-only estate agency The Modern House, founded by two former design professionals in 2005, has since carved out an influential niche, whereby boutique service and a carefully curated selection of “architecturally arresting” properties cater for aesthetes looking for a more personal touch. The approach is proving successful: the agency grew by 35% over six months last year, leaving high-street competitors like Foxtons and Savills in the dust.[3]
If careful curation and visual savvy are influencing the research portion of the house-buying process, then providing consumers with more advanced digital tools is another important development. Real estate platforms will soon give prospective buyers the opportunity to “us[e] search, voice, photos and other data from [their] web history and connected devices – including personal artificial intelligence (AI) assistants like Amazon Alexa” to map and hunt for detailed property preferences, according to PropTech Consult firm co-founder James Dearsley. Virtual reality technology, meanwhile, will make fifteen-minute property viewing windows obsolete, and will let individuals “‘live’ in a virtual version for several days to truly try before they buy.” [4] Drone photography may soon, too, become a default in digital listings.


However, “underlying this huge capitalist and social endeavour is a clash of generations. Many of the startups are driven by, and aimed at, millennials, but they often look to baby-boomers for money.” [9] Millennials may be far more comfortable than their parents using chat-bots and other digital interactions for mortgage advice [10], but PropTech’s fortunes will also rely on that generation’s ability to purchase in the first place. Following news that home ownership has collapsed amongst young people on middle-income, with their chances of owning a home having halved in the past 20 years, [11] the need for systemic changes and evolving regulations will certainly impact the industry’s future.
[1] University of Oxford, https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Press_Office/Images/proptechreport/PropTech%203%20-%20The%20Future%20of%20Real%20Estate.pdf
[3] Esquire, https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a18950/property-porn/
[4] HSBC
[5] Oxford University
[6] The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/09/02/chatbot-mortgage-broker-habito-raises-185m/
[7] TechCrunch, https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/23/nested-36m/
[8] Oxford University
[9] Oxford University
[10] HSBC
[11] The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/feb/16/homeownership-among-young-adults-collapsed-institute-fiscal-studies