Domen Zavrl has two PhDs, one in applied macroeconomics and a second in system dynamics. Mr Zavrl has experience of a range of industries, including securities lending, commodities trading, natural resources, business brokerage and real estate development.
This article will explore the impact of AI on the real estate industry and how technological advancements are transforming the way people buy and sell properties.
AI is disrupting numerous industries today, and real estate is no exception. Technological innovations have unlocked a new era of real estate market transformation, with AI’s unparalleled capabilities redefining how people buy, sell and invest in real estate and catalysing a paradigm shift in property ownership and rental living ecosystems.
Experts anticipate that real estate industrywide reliance on AI solutions will only increase in the coming years, with intelligent systems making property management more economical, efficient, personalised and customer centric. AI is dramatically transforming the industry by automating processes, increasing productivity, enhancing customer experiences and providing actionable insights to improve decision-making and reshape interactions.
A study from Precedence Research suggests that generative AI is creating substantial opportunities for the real estate industry, with the market tipped to grow at a CAGR of 11.52% – increasing by more than $1 billion by 2032. This growth is fuelled by a number of factors, including increased demand for automation to boost operational efficiency, advancements in AI technology that enhance valuation and property management processes, and increased prioritisation of data analytics to inform real estate decisions. In addition, the potential of AI to personalise and thereby enhance customer experiences is further accelerating its adoption.
Although the primary function of estate agents is to sell brick-and-mortar buildings this does not mean that the role has remained untouched by technological advancements and innovation. The rise of the internet, digitisation and recent trends like virtual reality and drone photography have all had a huge impact on the industry. Nevertheless, experts predict that even bigger disruptors could lie on the horizon as agents, investors, mortgage brokers and appraisers race to benefit from the colossal opportunities presented by generative AI.
A recent McKinsey report highlights the need for professionals to learn to augment their abilities with new generative tools and embrace new working practices to stay ahead of the curve. The report suggests that AI could generate circa $180 billion in value for the global real estate industry. Posing the potential to transform many routine tasks performed by real estate professionals on a daily basis, generative AI can swiftly and effortlessly generate property descriptions and – by utilising floorplans, photographs and videos captured by drones – translate images and data into written information. Generative AI can even personalise these descriptions, tailoring them to each individual client to make search results more appealing.
In various industries today, chatbots are playing a game-changing role in customer service, lifting the burden from human staff by providing information and answering basic questions. In the realm of real estate, chatbots are frequently used to schedule tours and viewings. AI can seamlessly automate mundane, time-consuming tasks, with custom AI applications increasingly being utilised to generate templates and drafts in seconds.
The rise of VR and AR have paved the way for virtual property tours, enabling potential investors to gain a realistic view of a property without the need for a visit in person. Today’s forward-looking estate agents offer virtual tours to enable buyers to get a true sense of how living and working spaces look and feel, a capability that is particularly valuable for home hunters searching for overseas investment options or properties that are still in construction.
In addition, virtual staging enables buyers to see how their furniture would look in their new residence, helping prospective buyers to see themselves living there without requiring actual staging. Virtual staging not only reduces expenses but also speeds up decision-making, paving the way for a smoother transaction.
