PropTech is in the global news for more than two years and now talk of the town in South Asia. But how PropTech is going to affect real estate sector and at first most important question, What PropTech is?

Proptech, also referred to as CRE-Tech (Commercial Real Estate Technology) or RE-Tech (Real Estate Technology) in many parts of the world is an attempt to bring together the technology and the real estate world. PropTech is a small part of the change in the digital advancement of Real Estate to propel the industry forward. In other words, it is an economic industry which helps in making the real estate transactions easier.

Evolution of PropTech in Real Estate and Shared Economy

With the growing changes in the real estate sector, future of this sector is quite uncertain.  With the increased focus of the government in the housing sector and various subsidies offered, it is very important for a real estate company to increase its focus on the cost and enable a transparent cost management system so that the customer is assured of his investment.

Multiple verticals are emerging within PropTech, the real estate market per se (PropTech), smart cities and buildings, the home building industry (ConTech), the sharing economy and finance (FinTech). Real Estate industry provides a very close connection in ConTech and FinTech, because of its high production cost.

The second half of the year 2017 saw a tremendous increase in the usage of drones, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies. This shows that digitalization has impacted a good majority of people and that has helped them to get more transparent information about their investment. Now with the help of Big data, PropTech tell us everything about our future investment by the click of a button.This is another major change in the real estate industry, and we can only thank Proptech for this.

Smart buildings is a concept wherein IoT will infiltrate our buildings and will take care of all our routine works and tasks and will make sure we face no hardship. However, there are some points that you must keep in mind before indulging in this concept:

• Anti-virus and anti-spam software must be installed to ensure that there are zero chances of a cyber-crime.
• Cyber risk insurance must be taken.
• Open source software must be used very cautiously and must be avoided wherever possible.
• It must be ensured that counterparties have taken the appropriate safety measures and have the required certification.

Change is inevitable through PropTech in Real Estate

India is also not untouched by the trend. Since 2013, India has witnessed highest number of PropTech deals in Asia Pacific region. Startups in this area can be categorized in four verticals: brokerage and leasing, project development, investment and financing, and property management.

This technology opened gates for all the families who wish to live on their terms. The rumor has it that in the near future; it might be possible to build a custom built house for next day.

The government has taken made some significant regulatory change like GST and RERA from last year. Now, the focus has shifted towards affordable housing, smart cities and industrial corridors technologies are a key factor to make the process efficient enough. Needless to say, in this fast growing economy, developers can no longer ignore Proptech.