New disruptive technologies like Blockchain and artificial intelligence are changing the game.
They have the potential to revolutionise Australia’s housing market, creating new opportunities for investors, tenants, real estate professionals and governments – but what are the risks?
Professor Christopher Pettit, the inaugural Chair of Urban Science at the University of New South Wales, recently undertook a study for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI). The study took a wide ranging and critical look at tech disruption in our housing market, and uncovered some new insights and forward looking predictions.
“One interesting opportunity we identified was in the potential for developers to use blockchain technology to attract micro investors – who are not limited to the same country, but who could potentially from across the world – who would each own small parcels of shares (or tokens) in the development. In essence, this creates a means of crowdfunding property development,” he says.
“The main difference between this new model of investing and existing real estate investment trusts is that blockchain property gives micro investors complete control over what they purchase with real-time information, without having to pay the high fees a portfolio manager might charge to manage a similar investment.”
Beyond the ‘buzz of blockchain’, housing market disruption is also being driven by the growing capabilities of artificial intelligence, he says.
“Machine learning algorithms, which learn through analysing large data sets, allow data to be ‘understood’ (based on legislation or policy documents). This information can then be acted on,” he shares.
For the full story on the future of real estate and how it will be impacted by AI and blockchain, read the complete feature story, read the in depth article in the February 2019 edition of Your Investment Property. On sale at news agencies and Coles supermarkets January 10th to February 14th or download the magazine now.
