Proptech Is Enhancing Efficiency And Human Experience

The pandemic has forced the real estate industry into a more meaningful embrace with technology after years of flirting with innovation

- Liam Aran Barnes

For decades, the real estate industry remained stubbornly jejune. As other sectors embraced innovation, tech companies played at the edges of one of the largest industries in the world. But proptech has stepped out of the shadows to enhance efficiency and human experience within the sector.

While the pandemic has had a devastating effect on real estate in the short term, it is now proving to be a catalyst for the adoption of tech.

The last 18 months have been an inflexion point. Even though many companies are preparing to return to their offices, the working landscape will likely transform forever as workforces shift towards hybrid models. The pandemic has created a demand for products that previously serviced primarily niche markets like digital home financing services. Other tech solutions experiencing a surge include virtual and augmented reality to meet the virtual walkthrough needs of homebuyers and agents.

Few will remember the pandemic period with much fondness. But it might well be recalled as the era when the property sector’s relationship with tech finally came of age.

OFFICES OF TOMORROW

The future of the workplace is likely to be a hybrid model geared towards better work-life balance

The pandemic has hastened the realisation that work is not somewhere you go, but something you do. And it is the workforce—empowered by technology and demanding improved sustainability and individual well-being—that is driving change.