Predictions for PropTech in 2022

Predictions-for-proptech-in-2022
  • After a turbulent two years, the proptech industry has experienced huge upheaval due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • As we emerge out of COVID-related restrictions, what could 2022 have in store for proptech?
  • We’ve gathered up industry expert predictions on what 2022 could have in store for the industry.

With the past two years’ COVID-19 restrictions and working from home orders disrupting real estate and property at-large, how has proptech helped the industry adapt to and overcome such unprecedented challenges?

Here, we’ve collected predictions from industry experts in the proptech space, offering up their thoughts on what 2022 will bring to this innovative area of tech.

 

Our Panel of Experts:

  • Jawad Nayyar – Co-Founder and Chief Vision Officer of DAO PropTech
  • Shaival Shah – CEO and Co-Founder of Ribbon
  • Daniel Adache – CEO of Adache Group Architects
  • Sam Ramadori – CEO at BrainBox AI
  • Ajo Kurian – Senior Vice President of AKAM
  • Dan Ryan – CEO at VergeSense
  • Jeff Allen – President of CubiCasa
  • Vidur Gupta – CEO & Founder at Beekin
  • Saurabh Saxena – Founder of houzen
  • Chris Bee – CTO at Lessen
  • Bengt Johannes Lundberg – CEO of Disruptive Technologies
  • Steve Barnett – Venture Capital Partner at Shoosmiths
  • Hadar Landao – CEO at Luke
  • Raf Howery – CEO and Founder at Kukun
  • Desh Weragoda – CTO for MBANC

 

For any questions, comments or features, please contact us directly.

 

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Jawad Nayyar, Co-Founder and Chief Vision Officer of DAO PropTech

 

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“We are extremely bullish about the property technology space in the year 2022. The real estate market is experiencing exponential growth, and we are expecting the current positive trends to continue well into the next year. Considering the potential of our country, the government’s direction, and a very large young population defining futuristic real estate requirements, the new year promises to be an exciting one. This opportunity, however, needs to be curated towards what is essentially required by applying a use-case-based approach.”

“Innovation and technology are expected to be the key driving factors. The PropTech space is heating up, with terms like use-case, sharing economy, distributed ledgers, and data-driven decision-making becoming the new norm.”

“Keeping a close eye on the macroeconomic conditions such as GDP growth and employment levels, lending rates, and political stability, strong growth of 12-14% in mature real estate valuations is expected. Developmental real estate, however, might face a turbulent ride due to an overheated market and excessive supply in certain asset classes.”

“Technology will give rise to investment opportunities with multiple tech-based solutions coming to address the challenges within the real estate sector. For businesses and individuals alike, the potential is enormous.”

“With overseas Pakistanis and PropTech startups playing a pivotal role, and excited by the anticipated investment opportunities that lie ahead, the current Government is optimistic to attract foreign investment, a key ingredient to the real estate boom. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has taken some necessary steps to channelize declared money being plugged into the real estate sector.”

“This supply-oriented market will naturally correct itself towards the year-end with the help of advanced use of data in 2022, and a use-case-driven approach. Data has long been one of the neglected verticals across the real estate sector, and we at DAO PropTech are fully equipped to embrace the opportunities that lie ahead.”

 

Shaival Shah, CEO and Co-Founder of Ribbon

 

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The role of technology: “Over the last few years, we’ve seen mass innovation around the offerings of technology, including cash offer programs and deep vertical integration. With so many point solutions, targeting discovery, selling and other areas, we’ll begin to see a consolidation of these tools. In doing so, we’ll start to see platforms that touch every aspect of the homebuying journey from start to finish. In 2022, we’ll begin to see this transformation, leading to technology managing all parts of the home transaction.”

Renting solutions on the rise: “While home prices expect to decrease from what we’ve seen in the last year, it will not change the fact that many people will not have the privilege to purchase a home, resulting in more renters. As home values increase with inflation, many homebuyers are getting priced out. In 2022, I expect to see solutions geared towards renters on the rise. The real necessity in the coming year is for solutions that help combat the home accessibility crisis and create more affordable experiences for those looking to purchase a home.”

 

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Daniel Adache, CEO of Adache Group Architects

 

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“It has been projected by some experts that this Virus Pandemic may somewhat transform how we live in the future. This brings us to the question of: “What upcoming lifestyle changes might affect Architecture?” While a pandemic, like other calamities, may somewhat temporarily change lifestyles, it has always remained to be seen how much they affect architecture.”

“What will affect the future of architecture? While nobody really knows the specifics of the future, Architecture and Engineering will always be slightly shifting because of an advancement, over time, in industry, commerce, science, housing, medicine, and travel resulting in various Changing Lifestyles. We can see changes on the horizon because of the innovation of Artificial Intelligence, Personal Drone Transportation, progress in Wellness and Medicine, and the development of New Materials (such as Graphene, for example, which is 6 times lighter and 200 times stronger than steel), and New Inventions and Technologies occurring every day.”

“The results of almost anything arises from Supply verses Demand, and Architecture is no exception. Whenever there is a desire, it seems that science and technology have an answer, and it will eventually be designed and executed. As time goes by, different inventions promote new types of Architecture. As an Historical Example, Architecture had changed very little over several thousand years, until just a little over 100 years ago or so, three inventions appeared on the planet, almost simultaneously (relatively speaking): Steel, the Automobile, and Electricity. It was these three inventions that significantly changed the world through Architecture, allowing buildings to soar vertically into the sky, having a need and solution to store automobiles vertically (encompassing large percentages of buildings), along with powering and lighting up buildings and cities throughout the world. Since then, it has been New Inventions in Science & Technology, Transportation & Communication, and various concerns such as the Environment, Over Population, Disease, World Conflict, and Education that has changed certain ideologies and demands. It will be solutions to these and other various issues that will determine future outcomes of how Architecture plays significant roles.”

“Even today, because of recent lifestyle changes, we are witnessing a slight shift in the demand of certain building types, which is causing an oversupply of various sectors of real estate, leaving a challenge to modifying existing structures, or eliminating some, and creating new varieties. As an example, the surge of Internet Buying and Home Delivery has caused vast vacancies and failures in the Retail Sector. The recent notion of working from home may minimise the need for Office Space. And certainly, the current Vacation Home Rental business has put a dent into the Hotel Business.”

“The ever-changing World Challenges and Lifestyle Changes will create the New Demands for Architecture, because it has always been proven that ‘Supply follows Demand.’ And New Styles will evolve as the new Functions of the new buildings react to these New Demands, resulting in new Forms, proving the theory that ‘Form follows Function’.”

 

Sam Ramadori, CEO at BrainBox AI

 

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The need for future-proofing commercial real estate: “Buildings are responsible for over a third of energy-related direct and indirect emissions, according to the European Commission, and renovation will be key to stopping them from becoming obsolete under upcoming regulations. Commercial property landlords must start taking an active approach in securing the longevity of their buildings by improving their energy efficiency and heeding regulations. The need for a more sustainable and efficient energy usage might see proptech and AI become a more prominent player in commercial real estate in 2022.”

“Across the world, a growing number of countries have made commitments to address climate change and reduce or eliminate CO2 emissions. One way in which governments have sought to achieve such pledges and encourage the development of carbon mitigating solutions has been through changed or new regulations.”

“Particularly in the United Kingdom, the commercial property sector is facing a major hurdle with the minimum energy efficiency standard (MEES) regulations, put in place by the government with the aim to reach Net Zero by 2050. This means that from 2027, owners of commercial real estate will only be able to lease their properties if they meet a minimum standard of energy efficiency.”

“AI can proactively boost the energy efficiency of buildings. Our solution is a great example where our autonomous AI-tech is used to optimise existing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. This reduction in energy usage leads directly to saving in total energy costs for building owners and operators. Through flexible energy demand management, innovative proptech solutions can provide landlords with the tools to decarbonise commercial real estate, ensure their resilience and tackle climate change. With this in mind, it is likely that throughout 2022 we see an increase in the adoption of technologies like ours as landlords look to beat the deadline and future-proof their buildings.”

 

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Ajo Kurian, Vice President of AKAM

 

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“Real estate investment and operations companies will continue to allocate human and capital resources in building and/or enhancing their technology platforms across all business functions including (investment strategy, property accounting, property management, leasing, energy management, etc.). -Proptech investment will only continue to grow and those who are resisting the shift towards more tech-focused operations will feel the pinch in the coming years as they will lose competitive advantage to those who are embracing tech.”

“We’ll start to see consolidation amongst some proptech platforms which are saturated in specific areas such as building management systems, accounting/finance software and other aspects of real estate. The race to bring solutions to market is still very much on, but we’ll start to see inferior/older proptech platforms weeded out by new and dynamic/robust ones as well.”

“Companies will also continue or start allocating capital towards data science and leveraging the vast amount of information real estate operators have on buildings and tenants in tech platforms to develop enhanced leasing, property management, risk management, and tenant behaviour and engagement strategies.”

“Employees will prioritise a company’s tech platform when considering job opportunities. Same for existing and prospective clients of real estate service providers.”

 

Dan Ryan, CEO at VergeSense

 

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“While connected and smart buildings were the industry standard for decades, they will not be sufficient to meet the needs and expectations of tenants and their employees moving forward.”

“Real estate and building management operations were originally built on a set of norms that no longer exist, like the 9-5 or the 40-hour work week. Now the only thing we can expect is the unexpected, as the way people use and occupy space will be completely unpredictable through people making their own in-the-moment decisions under the expectation of personal choice.”

“There needs to be a better process to fully understand space, how it’s changing, and how people are using it in real-time, and then use that information to identify patterns and make predictions. We anticipate that workplace and facilities leaders will leverage spatial intelligence to eliminate prescriptive working schedules and instead implement an on-demand approach to office use. Spatial intelligence is the ability to measure physical space and the people who use it to identify patterns and insights in real-time. This understanding is leveraged to improve a building’s management, the experience of the people it serves, and its own impact on the world. Spatial intelligence will be essential to overcome uncertainty and unpredictability around work.”

 

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Jeff Allen, President of CubiCasa

 

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“We’ve seen the utilisation and demand for digital floor plans increase dramatically the last two years as a result of the pandemic. When it became increasingly difficult to schedule walkthroughs of homes, digital floor plans helped speed the appraisal process for properties that had them in place. Consumers have made it clear that floor plans are not just a luxury, but a requirement for viewing homes, as 64% of home buyers are interested in viewing floor plans, and including a floor plan in a listing can reduce the property’s time on the market by up to 50%. And Fannie Mae recently announced a desktop appraisal option for certain loans, with a floor plan required to qualify for a desktop appraisal, marking a new standard for the industry.”

“The benefits of floor plans are clear, but as appraisers realise that traditional sketches are not only costing them time, but money as well, digital floor plans offer a unique and modern solution. At CubiCasa, we want to help the industry move forward as it looks to digitise these processes. Through our technology, anyone with a smartphone can take a virtual scan of their home and produce an accurate and unbiased floor plan in just five minutes – without the need of an appraiser on site. As desktop appraisals, and in turn digital floor plans, become the industry standard, appraisers will need the right technology to meet desktop appraisal requirements established by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”

 

 

Vidur Gupta, CEO & Founder at Beekin

 

Vidur-Gupta-Beekin

 

“In 2022, PropTech finally comes of age. With the rapid adoption of technology and dedicated purchase teams within enterprise buyers and B2C, this is a golden time to be in PropTech. Customers have been exposed to an incredible customer experience (through Amazon, Doordash, Netflix), and this will reflect in solutions. Data governance and privacy will gain ground, and despite light regulation within real estate (compared to stocks and bonds), ESG compliance will be a significant driver of technology usage.”

 

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Saurabh Saxena, Founder of houzen

 

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“There’s been some resistance over the years to innovation in the real estate sector when it comes to technology, but we’re seeing a few different factors converging now, which means 2022 should be a big year for Proptech advancement.”

“2022 is going to be a big year for Proptech innovation. We’ve got new players on the scene competing with more established brands, which is going to lead to some interesting developments in the real estate sector – watch this space!”

Fintech integration into real estate: “The first of the trends flagged up by houzen is the integration of fintech into the UK property sector, which will result in a notable alteration in the landlord/tenant relationship. houzen projects that, post-Covid, fintech will deliver seamless management systems that bring this financial arrangement into the 21st century.”

“UK renters are used to having to pull together huge deposits when they move, which can present difficulties while they await the return of the deposit for the previous property. It is telling, then, that UK-based service Fronted, which lends rental deposits to would-be tenants, has been able to raise £1m from Monzo, at a £2m valuation in 2021. Other firms are getting in on the action too, with products such as Housing Hand’s depositless renting service providing tenants with another way to avoid the burden of having to stump up a deposit.”

Customers come first: “The UK, like much of Europe, has an agency model built around the selling side. This heavily fragmented model means that agencies with limited stock are incentivised to upsell the price of the home. For those looking to buy or rent a property, this is a frustrating process, involving maintaining relationships with multiple agencies in order to gain access to properties before they are listed.”

“The solution? houzen’s customer-focused tagging platform, which calculates the exact valuation of the property by considering multiple factors – location, quality of flooring, lighting and so on. houzen Deals supports consumers to buy and grow sustainably, finding properties based on what they can afford and providing recommendations to improve the value of the home and its energy efficiency.”

 

Chris Bee, CTO at Lessen

 

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“Like many other industries that are moving away from dated manual processes, we will continue to see a big push toward more efficient transactions and streamlined process in real estate.”

“All parties involved in the financing, transaction and services related to real estate want a less stressful and more simplified experience. We are going to see more companies raising capital to build tech-enabled products and services to meet these market needs. We are at the beginning of a major shift in how property-related services are conducted and managed.”

 

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Bengt Johannes Lundberg, CEO of Disruptive Technologies

 

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“With pandemic restrictions easing and people returning to the office in droves, 2022 will be a big year in the commercial real estate space and technology will play a bigger part than ever before.”

“Employee health and wellbeing will be at the forefront of many businesses’ minds as they encourage their workers back into the office. Businesses will need to give more thought to factors such as air quality, space occupancy and cleanliness, and how it affects the comfort and productivity of their employees.”

“Technology, specifically the use of IoT sensors, is now able to provide a simple, one-stop-shop solution to these considerations. CO2 sensors mean that facilities managers can easily measure the indoor air quality, allowing real-time adjustments to ensure the best possible working conditions for occupants, while saving energy at the same time. Proximity and PIR sensors can also be used to identify room occupancy, allowing optimal use of space and smart cleaning.”

“The single biggest change we will see in 2022 is how accessible this technology has become and how easy it is to scale. The events of the last few years have proved its value within commercial property and we will see sensors become more widely available given their increased ease of use, how they can be retrofitted into any building and increased demands from occupants.”

“Another major thing I think we will see this year is an increase in technology being used to boost the sustainability credentials of commercial buildings. Now is the time to take action against climate change, and technology is critical to meet your ESG goals.”

 

Steve Barnett, Venture Capital Partner at Shoosmiths

 

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“We are continuing to see significant innovation in the proptech sector and an increasing number of active investors, and we expect the sector to go from strength to strength in 2022.”

“There is still a tendency to think of the proptech sector as focussing on consumer-facing innovations such as making it easier to buy, sell or rent property, or take out a mortgage, but the sector has long since moved on from there.”

“Construction tech is attracting a significant amount of funding and is ripe for disruption, historically being one of the least digitised industries. From the use of augmented reality to reduce errors in the construction process, solutions focused on the construction supply chain and new construction processes, investor funds are flowing into construction start-ups and scale-ups. We are also seeing significant overlap with other sectors, including ‘green’ investments sparked by the transition to net zero, all of which we expect to continue in 2022 and beyond.”

 

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Hadar Landao, CEO at Luke

 

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“With low inventory and a high demand, we are currently seeing a lot of activity throughout the United States in today’s sellers’ market. However, with interest rates rising, we will soon see this change and should expect to go back to a buyer’s market. Cities with lower taxes, lower cost of living and more desirable weather will still be popular and we will continue to see people move to cities such as Miami and Austin as remote work continues.”

“In addition, as more millennials become first-time homebuyers, they will be demanding more transparency in the homebuying process as well as a digital experience. Millennials trust technology and prefer completing tasks online, such as scheduling tours, executing transactions, taking a mortgage and obtaining price advice based on AI technologies. Everything will be more digital in 2022 simply because millennials are used to it and becoming homebuyers for the first time.”

“Given this shift to a more technologically focused homebuying experience, real estate agents will become more of an advisor. Technology improves the process of finding a home, however buyers are still looking for a quality advice when closing on a property. We started seeing this shift of the real estate agent acting as an advisor a few years ago, but it will become more common in 2022.”

“2022 will also be the year for iBuyers, such as Opendoor, to succeed as we may see prices go down slightly. Although some iBuyers pulled off last year, there are companies who have models that work and this will be an important year to show that it works in any weather.”

 

Raf Howery, CEO and Founder at Kukun

 

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“There will be a rapprochement between fintech and proptech as the housing boom continues to grow. While projections show the mortgage market slowing, the shift from refinance mortgage to purchase mortgage will facilitate this conversation.”

“There will be more M&A activities this year. In some cases, the banks will look to buy fintechs, as mentioned in the third point. In many other cases, we’ll see fintechs join forces to offer broader services, and better UX, via proptech M&A, which is outside their current niches, in order to keep growing their user base.”

 

Desh Weragoda, CTO for MBANC

 

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“We’ve worked hard to create our proprietary system that allows MBANC’s borrowers to apply for loans from their sofa, just using their smartphone, because that’s what the new generation of homebuyers expects.”

“The primary challenge larger, less nimble financial organisations face in offering this level of convenience to borrowers is addressing security risks, and most banks are not ready to do that at the moment.”

“Our prediction is that middleman mortgage brokers are destined to go the way of the dinosaurs, much like what happened with travel agents once travellers were able to compare prices and book their own tickets directly with the airlines, using their computers and phones.”

“In finance, this is doubly true for a generation that is accustomed to being able to do everything from their smartphone, and most of whom have scarcely set foot in a bank. Millennial homebuyers, if given the opportunity, would far prefer to get a mortgage loan from the comfort of their couch.”

 

For any questions, comments or features, please contact us directly.

 

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