4 Real Estate Tech Trends You Need to Be Aware of in 2018

As usual at the beginning of the year we are asking ourselves what will bring the new year, which trends will confirm, and which will disappear. Similarly concerning the technology in real estate, many would be curious to find out the real estate technology trends.
Technology is everywhere and integrant part of our lives, and in real estate this is more and more true day passing.
Consumers’ behavior and market parameters are continuously shifting and push the technology in real estate at a maturity stage. Actors of the industry need to understand correctly which are the driving forces that lead the change:

Online Brand Awareness 

Real estate customers have now the habit to search online first, when they need to sell or buy a property. 2018 will see further expansion of online accessible information and transparency concerning real estate assets. Investors need a better base to make better and faster decisions to allocate the capital they detain, and real estate brokers have to adapt to this requirement. They will need to provide all the details online, including virtual tours to help clients decide and reduce transaction cycles and time spent to search for properties. They are required to mass market and be everywhere where their clients are, social media included. Their online reputation will have a heavy word on their activity.

Chatbots and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI in real estate refers primarily to the proliferation of algorithms, that have capabilities of self-learning and self-improving, but they are just as good as the data they are based on.
A common way now to use AI is through chatbots. In real estate they are the first line of customer service and can help streamline leads engagement and conversion.
 For 2018, AI will craft its way to help realtors improve advertising targeting, get more qualified leads and identifying more accurately the clients’ needs. AI and VR (virtual reality) can provide virtual tours of properties and thus help customers narrow down the options they want to visit.

Engagement based real estate applications

One of the major trends of last year that will see further development in 2018 is the accurate online real estate experience. New tools for real estate agents are available that combine realtors’ experience with the power of technology, smoothing real estate user experience. For instance, interactive online properties search tools that allow clients and agents to collaborate online, organize and decide on client preferences and have all the information in one place.

Blockchain Technology for Transactions

This new technology, blockchain that provoked lots of pizzazz last year, has huge potential in real estate particularly in due diligence and property records storage. It can be a game changer if proper compliant implementation methods are found. As it ensures secure public records with instant access, it can tremendously facilitate the mortgage process and the transaction closing procedures. Consequently, real estate transactions will gain in speed and reliability, and will imply smaller costs.

The National Association of Realtors and International Blockchain Real Estate Association (IBREA)  are working to conceive best practices and standards to support the adoption and implementation of blockchain in real estate sector.

The above trends are expected to experience new favorable evolutions during 2018 and probably many others that at this moment don’t seem too promising. What cannot be contested is that technology in real estate will force the evolution of a sector traditionally reluctant to change.