Several hundred Realtors® met this week to discuss emerging tech trends impacting the real estate industry. With the real estate market seemingly ready to bust, it’s important to consider how technology may affect home buyers and sellers.
Data trends to know
Jane Dzielski, Google’s Principal Analytical Lead, presented important information about home buying trends. Prior to the pandemic, about 10% of households moved each year. Over the past two years, 25% of consumers have moved. Another 24% plan to move in the next year. She also reported that internet searches for buying a second home have “surged” since the second half of 2020. Second homes are considered a great investment to earn money renting while having access to a vacation home.
Tech trends to pay attention to
Ashley Stinton, Second Century Ventures, brought her experience in marketing to the session by discussing investment in real estate technology companies. She reported that “over $31 billion was invested in 2021.” She also said, “We’ve seen 12 new prop tech unicorns as well as over 150 merger and acquisition transactions.” SCV has a program to support new tech to bring innovations to the real estate industry.
Other speakers went on to discuss the impact of the metaverse on real estate. Meta is investing $10 billion per year over the next decade to the metaverse. As the metaverse impacts how we interact with and use the internet, it’s going to change how people buy and sell homes.
Cryptocurrency and blockchains will also impact the real estate landscape. According to one of NAR’s directors, over 11% of first-time homebuyers sold cryptocurrency as part of their down payment in 2021. This figure is trending upwards since 2019. Many experts expect it to continue to rise.
Tech has certainly made an impact on home buying and selling since the pandemic. Home appraisals are being conducted without needing to physically visit the home by desktop appraisals. Closings are being conducted virtually. Expect tech to innovate to give home sellers and buyers more options in the future years.
Dawn Brotherton is a Sr. Staff Writer at The American Genius with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Oklahoma. She is an experienced business writer with over 10 years of experience in SEO and content creation. Since 2017, she has earned $60K+ in grant writing for a local community center, which assists disadvantaged adults in the area.
