The third annual Yardi / Property Council of Australia Proptech Report was conducted in November 2022 to unpack attitudes and trends influencing property technology or proptech.
The survey tracks the attitudes and practices of investors, developers and consultancies and provides insights into proptech adoption. In 2022, 45% of respondents developed or invested in real estate as a core business activity, compared with 50% in 2021.
Private equity and fund managers formed a larger proportion of respondents than in previous years. The survey of 226 senior industry professionals – 92% holding mid-level management positions or above – suggests the industry is deploying proptech to drive down carbon emissions and improve the sustainability of portfolios.
In fact, 71% of respondents think technology will play either a “major” or “significant” role in helping real estate businesses meet their sustainability objectives and 35% of respondents think AI is the biggest impact technology ahead – up from 19% in just one year.
“This survey captures industry attitudes at one moment in time,” says Michael Zorbas, chief executive for Property Council.
“But we now have three years of data that tracks a collective shift in mindset from the peak of the pandemic in 2020 to energy and economic challenges of 2022.
“We are seeing a sizeable proportion of the industry embracing advanced technologies – like artificial intelligence and business process automation – because these technologies can help them to meet net zero and other sustainability goals at speed.”
The survey also indicates growing interest in artificial intelligence. More than a third (34%) of respondents nominated AI as the biggest impact technology ahead – up from 19% the previous year.
Bernie Devine, senior regional director for Yardi Asia Pacific, says the rapid development and deployment of sophisticated AI solutions is forcing many companies to reconsider their technology strategies to make data aggregation easier.
“A sizeable proportion of Australia’s real estate industry is still operating from spreadsheets. You can’t make sense of big data without first sorting out the small data,” he says.
“This survey gives property industry leaders a clear sense of where they sit on the tech adoption curve and understand the important trends. Most importantly, the survey supports the data-driven decision-making that can unearth new sources of value, and create great, sustainable places for people,” Devine concludes.
Download the 2023 Yardi/Property Council of Australia Proptech Survey.
Watch the preview of survey as well as a border discussion on proptech, on a panel consisted of Bernie Devine (Yardi), Alice Drew (Lendlease), Julian Kezelman (Taronga Group), Melissa Hardy (QIC) and Chris Wild (Property Council of Australia).