Digesting Property Week’s Power of Proptech survey out last month it appears that the property industry as a whole is starting to embrace prop tech with 61% of respondents commenting that tech will have a positive effect on revenue in 2018 up 13% from 2017.
Nonetheless a part of this mix still being overlooked is the generation driving this change in tech namely millennials and generation Z. We all know that property ownership amongst this generation is low which could have been a contributing factor to the slow rate at which the property industry has embraced tech compared to other industries. Put plainly with no skin in the game there is little motivation for these generations to change it.
There is little doubt comparing 2017 results of the survey to 2018 that change is coming, and part of this change might be as a result of property crowdfunding and investment platforms that have opened the possibility of part ownership to the younger generations, and the results experienced at property investment platform Brickowner shows that the pace of change is speeding up. Despite a gloomy market, the first quarter of 2018 saw the startup taking just under £1m via the platform, with the second quarter coming in over £1.5M. Totaling £2.5m invested via the platform in 2018 to date. 44% of Brickowner users are millennials or generation Z investors.
When Brickowner launched in early 2017 the sector was still in its infancy. We felt applying tech and innovation to areas within property investment that have not moved on for decades would be essential to build growth. Prop-tech and crowdfunding have created a new way of financing property deals that will become more mainstream over the coming years.
The emergence of property crowdfunding has levelled the playing field for smaller investors, who can invest with others to create new opportunities. The creation of an open market is a win for both investors and the property developers.
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