New technology has shaken up almost every major industry from retail to finance and healthcare to transport. It has been surprisingly slow, however, to disrupt real estate, which is traditionally a relationship-driven, bricks and mortar-based business. Property technology (PropTech) firms have historically focussed on improving existing systems, such as speeding up transactions and cutting costs, rather than replacing them. But that’s changing. A new generation of PropTechs are reshaping how properties are bought, sold and managed, and, in doing so, are creating new on- and offline communities as they expand the property ladder. Here, we reveal the top trends in real estate technology, and some of the pioneering companies behind them.

1 Augmented and virtual reality

Both augmented reality, which adds digital elements to images via smartphones and other devices, and the more immersive virtual reality are clever ways of raising the stakes in property marketing. According to Goldman Sachs, by 2025 the global VR market will be worth $80bn, of which real estate will account for $2.6bn. With high-quality imaging playing a crucial role in property marketing, and remote investors comprising a growing slice of the property market, startups are racing to offer 360-degree virtual tours to hook prospective buyers. Realvision is a US-based startup that sells marketing tools, including 3D virtual tours, to estate agents. The company completed a $1.3m seed-funding round in 2017, led by Dundee Venture Capital. Rooomy is another example. More consumer-centric, this iPad app allows you to virtually decorate a room by converting 2D images into a 3D space.

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2 Crowdfunding

Like Uber did for transport, the sharing economy is revolutionising the property market by enabling more people to own a slice of real estate. Crowdfunding enables fractional ownership by linking prospective buyers with suitable investments and providing a digital platform for deals to take place. Dubai-based SmartCrowd allows investors to purchase a stake in a rental property for as little as $1,300. They ‘co-own’ the asset with scores of other people and split the rent from it. They may choose to sell their stake later and use the proceeds to invest in something else listed on the platform, or use the accumulated returns to buy a property on their own. Last year, SmartCrowd raised $600,000 in seed funding from Shorooq Investments, Abaxx Technologies, 500 Startups and other individual investors.​