The future of PropTech and how companies are adapting
The future of PropTech and how companies are adapting
In a world of digital-first working and consumer models, where online interactions across many areas of life are now the norm, the placemaking and real estate industry has been pushed to evolve quickly to keep up. This has led to the acceleration of PropTech as a means to bridge the gap between increased remote working and digital customers, and the world of property sales, management, development, and leases. Real estate and placemaking organisations must adopt more tech solutions or risk missing out on great opportunities, and PropTech could be the answer.
PropTech definition
PropTech (Property-Technology) is similar to FinTech, InsurTech, MedTech, EdTech, etc. in that it refers to technology-aided solutions designed specifically to meet the challenges faced by the property industry. Forbes defines PropTech as “businesses using technology to disrupt and improve the way we buy, rent, sell, design, construct, and manage residential and commercial property.”
Such tech solutions include:
- Web or mobile apps with real estate-specific software services
- Property CRMs
- AI and machine learning
According to KPMG, the challenges PropTech is designed to overcome include:
- Planning permission processes
- Building management
- Transactions
- Customer experience/services
- Data management, security and privacy
- Legal and compliance management
- Marketing and insights
- Performance measurement and tracking
- List management and compliance
- Lease renewals
PropTech examples:
According to Unissu, a PropTech resourcing platform and marketplace, there are over 9,100 PropTech companies worldwide offering a wide range of services from tools that help commercial real estate companies manage big data cloud computing to platforms for digital viewings. Some notable examples of leading PropTech companies include:
Founded in 1999 and based in the UK, Metaphorix specialises in ERP solutions for construction, installation and infrastructure.
Founded in 2017 and based in the USA, HqO delivers a state-of-the-art tenant experience within commercial real estate organisations’ properties using an app, analytics suite, and partner marketplace.
Founded in 2014 and based in the UK, REalyse uses cutting-edge data science to bring all property data together in one platform, and make it easy to interpret with powerful, easy-to-use analytics.
Established in 2001 in Australia, AgentPoint provides full-service professional real estate web design and development.
Founded in India and operating since 2018, Turiyatree Technologies is an IoT Startup in building energy management space. Their IoT enabled SaaS application employs IoT, machine learning, AI and process automation to manage and optimise energy consumption, improve asset performance and lifetime, and achieve sustainable energy efficiency.
Leading PropTech trends
The pandemic greatly accelerated the adoption of PropTech tools and solutions, and as such propelled the sector forward exponentially. Emerging trends largely centre around digital strategies that allow real estate and placemaking organisations, large and small, the opportunity to capitalise on the new flexible working models and propensity for digital services. Some of the most popular trends that are dominating innovation in this sector include:
- Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to collect and analyse real estate data
- Big Data is being used to digitalise property data assets
- Construction and maintenance lean heavily towards sustainable tech tools to meet increased ESG requirements
- IoT and IIoT developed with drones for 360-view display
- Customer services are being led with automation and chatbots for better personalisation and improved experience
- Virtual reality developed to support new customers who prefer remote services, viewings, etc.
- SaaS developed specifically for the property sector
What does the future of PropTech UK look like?
The future of PropTech is likely to continue to facilitate remote or virtual services and better offer increased support for digital transformation so that property and placemaking organisations can stay flexible about how they offer their services.
How can you maximise on the potential PropTech offers with Foundation Recruitment?
At Foundation Recruitment, we are committed to delivering successful hiring outcomes and the highest quality of services in equal measures. Our approach is to simplify and improve your resourcing experience, whichever service offering may be appropriate for your hiring needs.