Proptech is an indicator of how even a conventional business such as real estate needs to evolve and adopt technology. Specifically, technology is being used to create or renovate services offered in real estate to buy, sell, rent, develop, analyse, market and manage property in a more efficient and effective way. There is little doubt that proptech will disrupt the markets and change the way business is done in real estate. Our recent report, “Clicks and Mortar: The Growing Influence of PropTech”, across the Asia Pacific region, shows that India is one of the most dynamic markets in proptech, having reported the maximum proptech deals since 2013.
The Indian proptech scene is currently dominated by online brokerage platforms targeting the residential space, with a few players such as JLL India who have built online platforms for commercial brokerage. Many proptech ventures are using technologies focused on Virtual and Augmented Reality to enable energy consumption monitoring, creating and simulating interior designs, smart solutions for services such as parking, waste management and transportation.
The aim is for companies is to create tech-enabled solutions for the real estate sector that drive service and product differentiation. To do this, companies need to look at existing legal landscape to explore avenues which involve blockchain and exchange of digital currency, and create a favorable policy environment for emerging technologies to thrive.
The future will entail an amalgamation of human skills along with advanced technology that will serve as an unbeatable combination for players in the Real Estate sector. Looking at the global trends in proptech, there are some clear areas that Indian tech startups can focus on:
- The rise in India’s Grade A office stock (500 mn sq ft and rising) and institutional holdings, allows for creating and scaling up real-time building energy consumption and savings with carbon credit trading for private players. This trading can be further embedded with the use of the cloud.
- Online crowdfunding or auction platforms will enable retail investors to access opportunities for brownfield as well as completed buildings. Prominent developers can also look at these platforms as an avenue to raise development funds. These platforms can also utilize blockchain technology by issuing tokens against ownership that can then be traded online.
- It is also now possible to develop a cloud based appraisal software that can create valuation and appraisal reports with built-in datasets that combine local government registration data and predictive algorithms
- Using the concepts of Internet of Things and Machine Learning, Buildings Operations Management can undergo a transformative change by tracking equipment level performance and highlighting deviations to building managers.
There is already seminal work being done in cloud-based real estate portfolio management services and Building Information Modelling but what makes this moment truly unique is that a startup in proptech can transform the sector irrevocably.
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