MAIN IMAGE: Adriaan Grové – founder of Entegral, and Lynne Krawchuk – CEO of Under One Roof
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There has been some flurry of new or updated and more advanced property portals in recent years, despite the sluggish economy. This bodes well for property practitioners and their agencies, who now have expanded choices for listings. Healthy competition introduces the possibility of lower cost per lead rates, and allows for smaller players to market and advertise properties on a larger scale.
One marketplace platform has introduced a free-to-list model: independent Proptech company Entegral’s MyProperty. Others, such as new entrant Under One Roof, has followed such a model in its entrance to market.
There have been many attempts over the years to compete with the time-tested listing giants Property24 and Private Property but never more so than with the advent of Proptech, which has completely transformed the landscape. Another reason the door has opened for property portals, was the Competition Commission’s Online Intermediation Platforms Market Inquiry findings, which mandated the dominant existing platforms to open their systems up with the aim to foster competition.
Adriaan Grové, the founders of Entegral, played a role in those hearings, the outcome of which facilitated Grové’s long-term intention to present a free-to-list offering on MyProperty, which also serves neighbouring Namibia where it is currently is the leading portal. “We intend to expand into the rest of Africa with the additions to our model, including a new Marketplace App. We believe we add exclusive add-on value because our focus is specifically on agents; to promote their role and help consumers to connect with the most suitable agent for their needs.
Under One Roof’s CEO, Lynne Krawchuk comments: “We are focused on a simple, easy-to-use model that is highly customer-centric, meaning we have listened, and continue to listen, to agents, agencies and property buyers and sellers, and been reactive to designing our platform to their needs.”
AI disruptor
Included in the listings platforms genré are the individual agency property portals, who may find it difficult to compete with independent listing platforms in the future, given the current expense associated with the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Ai is already causing a paradigm shift in the redefining of real estate transactions and engagements. JLL Africa, a property consultancy specialising in property services and investment management, suggests that AI is one of the top three technologies that are expected to have the greatest impact on real estate on the continent in the next three years. This sentiment is expressed by investors and developers, who also included generative AI tech in the category.
Generative AI differs from AI in that while AI uses learning algorithms to perform tasks from experience, and can interpret complex concepts and patterns, Generative AI focuses on generating new content, designs and solutions, explains JLL.
Generative AI, says a McKinsey report, is maturing at “an auspicious moment for the real estate industry”. It says that with mountains of proprietary and third-party data about properties, stakeholders in the industry are able to customise existing AI tools to perform real-estate specific tasks, such as identifying opportunities for investors at lightning speed, revolutionise building and interior design, creating marketing materials, and facilitate customer journeys while simultaneously opening up new revenue streams.
McKinsey says that “Gen AI represents a fresh chance for the real estate industry to learn from its past and transform itself into an industry at technology’s cutting edge. Gen AI has not replaced analytical AI; instead its open-ended and creative nature introduces a new frontier of use cases that analytical AI does not address”. McKinsey’s Global Institute (MGI) believes that Gen AI could generate some US$110-billion to US$180-billion or more in value for the industry.
Considering the successful introduction of AI in some of the global property portals, Zillow stands out. Its technology “relies specifically on a neural network, (machine learning that loosely models neurones in the brain) trained on millions of photo’s and home values to read photos in new listings. The resulting estimates, which are also informed by metrics like square footage, predict property value with a national median error rate of 2.4%. Another is Realtor.com, which uses AI to comb through listings and generate leads, which it sells to partner agents.
The question
The real estate landscape is changing, and this will see the rise of new modern agents. “The question is,” asks McKinsey, “which companies will answer that call of change, adapt, and embrace a new, digitally powered future?”
