The Advancement of Technology in Real Estate

Posted by The Landsite on 9th June 2023 -

The advancement of technology within the property sector over the past decade has changed the industry and resulted in an explosion of applications and solutions for thousands of services. The real estate technology ecosystem is shifting toward integrated software platforms that better serve customer needs. To remain competitive within the real estate sector, businesses must recognise that change is inevitable and the shift towards property technology cannot be ignored.  

The global COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses serving the real estate market to digitize and use technology to facilitate collaboration, serve client needs and boost business productivity. This dynamic will likely only continue to accelerate and help to bring further innovation to the fragmented property and construction sector.

There are too many to explore right now, however we have listed some of the most widely used applications and broken them down into the following categories:

Property management tools / CRM 

The use of Cloud-based property management solutions suitable for housebuilders and landlords managing single or multiple properties has allowed property developers to organise their workload using CRM (customer relationship management) software systems offering administrative support for the full life cycle of new home build, sale and aftercare.  Many of these solutions allow housebuilders and landlords to integrate their internal processes and external services across a single platform and collate and manage their customer’s needs.

CRM Software for the Real Estate Sector

CGI / Imagery 

Visuals are key to the sale of any property - residential or commercial.  The advancement of high-resolution images and brochures to 3D imagery, fully immersive 360 virtual tours, ariel photography to VR experiences – creates realistic experiences for the user.  Most recently, VR tours allows the customer to tour pre-development housing units or off-plan anywhere in the world.  CGI architectural visualisations bring pre-built property to life and can often be indistinguishable from a real image.  Street scenes can also be created to assist planning authorities who want to see a photo montage CGI created as part of a planning application, to show exactly how the street scene will look with a new property is added to it.  Taking visuals one step further is Augmented Reality (AR) which blends 3D models with the real world, giving an immersive experience for potential developers.

How CGI is Transforming the Property Industry

Automation 

If ever there was a good time for real estate and property professionals to invest in technology to future proof buildings and commercial premises to become sustainable and save energy, it is now. From access control systems to sensors to essential energy saving devices, which detects and assesses energy consumption.  The provision of such data allows for better energy management and cost predictability.   

Additional forms of automation serve the application of smart home control combined with security system solutions. These intelligent home control systems automate lighting, music, tv and wi-fi and network integrated alarm and intrusion systems. 

Digital Mapping & location

One way to search for your potential development or investment property is by the use of digitally integrated mapping systems which provide a visual and mapped property search combined with gathering updated planning applications which are automatically updated from planning authorities across the country every week.  Used by professionals from across the sector, including agents, investors, developers, bankers, lawyers, and asset managers these solutions help reduce the time spent on research by days, or even weeks.

Construction Management

The construction technology industry is filled with single use software solutions (point solutions) such as digitising paper-based information or managing site emissions. In the past 5 years the construction technology sector is moving toward multi-solution platforms and a combination of multiple platforms. Spurred by customer feedback about the difficulty integrating point solutions, software providers began expanding their product portfolios to create suites of integrated solutions.

With recent progress around 3-D printing and modular construction there is likely to be acceleration in the use of technology and the construction industry will continue its transformation from a complex, fragmented, and project-based industry to a more consolidated and integrated one.

Find technology services throughout the real estate sector on The Landsite. 

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