Next Disruption in Real Estate

While the world is changing over to giving users the experience and convenience of availing anything at the click a button – real estate is surely catching up in an exciting way. While Names like REALAR which is experimenting on Augmented Realty or others like Sage Spaces giving 360 perspective of real estate. Many developers are combining Virtual Realty Imaging and Augmented Realty to give real life experience to prospective customers.

Just a Few Years ago, it was difficult to imagine how people will buy clothes online without actually feeling them. Players like Jabong, Myntra and Flipkart disrupted the marketplace by giving users the convenience of a Consumer Friendly Delivery and Return Policy. Now, its time for Real Estate to experience such disruption. Tech Startups are pulling together bits and pieces of AR, VR, AI, ML to create consumer experiences online for real estate. Real Estate biggies have realized the potentials and are investing in such ideas. While JLL has started a 100 MN$ fund named JLL Spark to look for tech startups and has invested into companies, CBRE recently has tied up with ASSOCHAM to identify proptech companies to invest. The NASSCOM-CBRE “Proptech Challenge” is aimed to support start-ups with potential to transform the real estate market with creative, innovative and disruptive thinking. In India, where digitisation is rapidly growing, it is imperative for the industry to transform the landscape of real estate industry and make it tech ready.

Now listing platforms are graduating from non-curated unverified models to real time experience models. Platforms like Commercial Real Estate AR of Australia are just readying to take over. Just scanning the building on the mobile App reveals, the occupancy and listing statistics.

The space is just heating up, but where is the goal? Whether Augmented Realty, Virtual Realty, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will be able to solve the problems of experiencing Real Estate Online and enable users to take decision online? The Answer lies in the way the technology matures enough to make the experience hassle-free. The wholesome solution to make the experience, AI enabled and hassle-free, will create space for real disruption. Like other e-commerce platforms, set the stage to pioneer an excellent delivery and return policy to overcome the inhibition of the consumer in the clothing merchandise, the real estate consumer wants to shortlist properties online to the last detail, experience the Sun and Wind Around. The consumer is looking at being able to be equipped enough to understand through Artificial Intelligence what he really wants, tons of data on distances and conveniences, trends and statistics presented in a way that is easy to comprehend and finally being able to shortlist few properties that he wants and obviously at the comfort of his home or office.

Once the consumer has experienced Real Estate online and he is out to feel the wind and the sun, developers have started investing heavily into IOT (Internet of Things). Platforms use cloud based algorithms and sensor based technologies to monitor internal environment and create user conveniences. Knight Frank recently has tied up with Delos to help enhance health outcomes in the home and reduce harmful indoor elements.

This completes the cycle of disruption in Proptech and hopefully we are soon going to experience them.

Ajit Panda
Founder, Spaciya Advisors