Real estate companies in Asia have ramped up investment in technology in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, finds a recent survey of major real estate firms by independent news source Mingtiandi. The research, which was conducted in collaboration with global real estate technology provider Yardi®, finds 70 percent of real estate companies are scaling up investment in property technology (proptech). The results of the survey, Tech Adoption in Asian Real Estate, builds on a similar report from Mingtiandi in 2017. “Our latest survey results unearth a major shift towards proptech adoption in our region,” says Bernie Devine, regional director of APAC sales for Yardi. “Change was underway well before 2020, but COVID-19 has heightened the urgency and amplified the risks of inaction.” Proptech, innovative technology that improves core processes and business models, is turning real estate on its head. Metaprop, one of the world’s largest early-stage proptech venture capital firms, predicts that proptech innovation will deliver $205 billion of new value to the global real estate industry over the next five years. “Real estate leaders are rolling out technology to support more frequent and accurate reporting, deeper data analysis, and technology that underpins safety and efficiency,” explains Devine. A total of 180 real estate specialists – more than a third with assets valued at over US$1 billion – took part in the survey in August 2020. Thirty-nine percent of respondents were from Hong Kong, 26 percent from Singapore and 12 percent from China. Among the key findings, 35 percent of companies said Asia was still trailing the West in terms of tech adoption, down from 56 percent in 2017. Thirty percent said the region was leading the way – up from 12 percent three years ago. “There’s a growing perception that Asia is closing...

In 2017, Yardi sponsored a survey of hundreds of real estate professionals across Asia as well the subsequent report on the survey findings. Completed by Asia real estate business intelligence source Mingtiandi, the report examines the state of technology in Asia’s real estate industry – and looks at where it’s heading. According to the report, property management technology has seen a global investment of $7.8 billion since 2013, with 60% of that investment going into Asia. Despite such hefty figures, up to 77% of Asia’s real estate professionals feel that they’re lagging technologically, citing the overwhelming reason for the region’s slow adoption of technology as resistance to change. Staying ahead of the game over the next five years will mean that managing human behavior, alongside investing in technology, will be crucial for companies looking to drive success through integrated, cohesive data and operations. Read the report executive summary and stay tuned for updates on the Yardi/Mingtiandi...