Applying technology to change real estate business

Inevitable trend

According to statistics from the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS – Vietnam Real Estate Association – Ministry of Construction), since 2020, real estate buying experiences in Vietnam have begun to be digitized. High-tech products are the optimal tools to support real estate businesses in finding customers, searching for real estate, managing business and transactions quickly and conveniently, instead of spending too much time and money to directly access and evaluate real estate products.

In addition, social networks are also becoming potential real estate business channels, helping transactions between buyers and sellers easily connect and finalize products.

According to VARS Chairman Nguyen Van Dinh, when applying technology to real estate, customers can sit at home or anywhere and learn about a real estate product according to their needs.

Project providers and brokers will also interact with customers effectively through the application of technology to reduce costs and increase the ability to complete transactions.

Dr. Le Ba Chi Nhan, an economic expert, believes that the current technology ecosystem for real estate is necessary for the market. If market participants do not invest in technology applications, they will quickly fall behind and not be able to fully exploit customers.

However, the biggest difficulty is that the infrastructure does not support technology applications well, many real estate businesses do not understand technology well, and technology units do not understand the specific work of the real estate industry.

Besides, real estate market data is still lacking and not connected from state management agencies, to localities and investors.

Therefore, if they want to enter the digital age, real estate businesses must gradually change the perception of the subjects about the role of technology application in real estate business; need a medium and long-term roadmap to build a solid technology foundation, especially data on products and markets; at the same time, there is active support from State agencies in having a mechanism to encrypt management, provide and process market information.

“According to statistics in 2022, the number of smartphone users in Vietnam reached about 62.8 million, an increase of 3.6% compared to 2021 and accounting for 96% of internet users nationwide. The number of young, tech-savvy people is forecast to continue to increase with the entry of a large proportion of the young population. The rate of home ownership among young people aged 25-34 is also taking up an increasingly large proportion. Therefore, selling real estate using technology is an inevitable trend,” Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh shared.

Shorten transaction time and costs

Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh added that the application of new technology helps real estate business activities shift towards the trend of shortening transaction time and costs, increasing liquidity of real estate assets. Specifically, the technology ecosystem provided by real estate businesses helps brokers find and invite customers more effectively, and provide better after-sales care.

In addition, solutions to support investors such as virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) technology have created conditions for buyers to not spend too much money, but still access real estate products easily, suitable for their needs, plan reasonable loans, even price change history... Therefore, virtual reality technology for the real estate industry will certainly account for the majority of technology investment in this field.

According to Mr. Nguyen Manh Khoi, Deputy Director of the Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management (Ministry of Construction), the application of digital technology in real estate business in general and in brokerage activities in particular is extremely necessary.

In recent years, digital transformation for real estate business has begun to be raised. In the digital world, all business activities require fast and accurate information. Therefore, if digital technology is applied early to real estate and deployed quickly, it will help the participants, including investors, brokers and customers.

On the other hand, investors can pay attention to the needs and desires of customers, thereby setting up appropriate business strategies. Therefore, the faster the digital transformation, the better to serve the general operation of the real estate market.

At many seminars to find solutions for developing the real estate market in recent times, Dr. Can Van Luc, Chief Economist of BIDV, always emphasized that the benefits of digital transformation are to help businesses reduce transaction and management costs, increase access to markets, information, data, connections, cooperation, increase business opportunities, and overcome challenges in the new context. At the same time, it increases customer experience, optimizes operating processes and becomes a trend leading the market in the future, contributing greatly to helping the market develop transparently.

The current economic recovery context is an important time for brokers and investors to participate and gain long-term development advantages. In order not to be left out of the "game", market participants need to choose a technology platform to promote their real estate business brand.