How technology and a pandemic changed how we buy property

The real estate industry, which traditionally conducts business face-to-face, was forced almost overnight to move open for inspections and auctions online.

Private sales behind closed doors also became commonplace as Melbourne’s other Saturday sport — watching homes go under the hammer on the city’s streets — was outlawed.

Before the pandemic, the industry had been slow to adopt technology designed to make transacting easier for buyers and sellers.

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RMIT’s senior lecturer in the school of property, construction and project management, Neville Hurst, said a minority of innovators set the pace for the rest.

“The biggest barrier to true innovation is that (the property market) is about people; it’s a people industry,” Dr Hurst said.

Last week, the Victorian Government announced public auctions and inspections could resume with attendances capped at 10 people.

In light of this, we asked the experts how the real estate industry’s digital transformation would continue for the remainder of the pandemic — and afterwards.

EARLY ADOPTERS

The digital switch felt sudden as agents were forced to cancel on-site and in-room auctions overnight from March 25, as a result of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s nationwide ban.

But many agencies had already begun streaming their auctions and offering online bidding via purpose-built platforms like Gavl and Anywhere Auctions. Digitally signing vital documents, including sales authorities and contracts, was also becoming more common.

Woodards Carnegie director Ruth Roberts said her agency had been live streaming auctions for about two years.

And Jellis Craig Richmond director Elliot Gill said his office had introduced enough technology in the past 12 months to make the full transition­ simple when COVID-19 restrictions kicked in.

Contactless payments, digital documents and 3D property scanning hardware were already in use at the agency.

“We were very much ready for that,” Mr Gill said. “We can do everything remotely now.”

Ray White Mt Waverley manager Jay Warnak said an influx of interstate and international buyers in Monash had prompted the branch to offer digital and phone bidding over the past year.

“When coronavirus happened and we had to go online, we were already three quarters of the way there,” he said. “We just needed to put the camera in front of the auctioneer.”

OPENING THE FLOODGATES

The coronavirus lockdown not only required a quicker and broader uptake of existing real estate technology, but the fast-tracking of new digital tools.

The day after Mr Morrison’s open for inspections ban kicked in, realestate.com.au announced sellers who listed via the website would be able to add virtual inspections and 3D tours of their homes for free. Almost one in five realestate.com.au listings to buy and rent now featured digital inspection videos.

And since the March 26 launch, the platform has notched almost 1.9 million digital inspection video views on Victorian listings.

Auction-streaming platform Gavl added live-streamed inspections to its digital offerings on April 2.

It now hosted more than 300 inspections nationwide a week, attended by an average of 15 groups, co-founder Joel Smith said.

A chat function allowed viewers to ask questions of the agent carrying out the inspection, and give instructions on what they’d like to see, all in real time.

Gavl’s original function — online auction viewing and bidding — also stepped up a notch, with an average of 40 groups tuning into each auction.

Mr Smith said auctions effectively shifting from the streets to the internet overnight thrust platforms like Gavl into the spotlight.

But now up to 10 participants were again allowed to physically attend Victorian auctions and open for inspections, in addition to the minimum number of people required to facilitate the events, the industry was “trying to work out the best way to sell”.

“I can see that there’d be a hybrid model of part digital, part physical,” he said.

Real Estate Institute of Victoria president Leah Calnan expected agents to continue using online auction platforms in conjunction with small public gatherings of bidders, on site or in agency boardrooms.

Barry Plant Group chief executive Mike McCarthy said this system would allow bidders who couldn’t physically go to auctions, and would-be buyers and sellers researching the market, to participate digitally.

REAL ESTATE AFTER COVID-19

Experts forecast this marriage of in-person and digital options would continue to connect buyers and agents as the coronavirus crisis eased.

Dr Hurst said agents would want to get back to the “traditional Melbourne way of auctioneering” — face-to-face — as quickly as possible once attendance restrictions no longer applied. Physical open for inspections were also here to stay, as the vast majority of Australian homebuyers were reluctant to purchase properties they hadn’t set foot in.

“Agents much prefer to eyeball people and sense the crowd,” Dr Hurst said. “And buyers will always want to touch and feel.”

But he predicted the best agencies would adapt and combine technology with tried-and-tested sales methods to make the process more efficient for all involved.

Mr Smith said digital inspections and auctions were ideal for would-be buyers and sellers researching the market before diving in.

“Parties can attend 20 or 30 (auctions or inspections) as a first port of call digitally, to work out the four or five to attend in person,” he said.

Realestate.com.au chief economist Nerida Conisbee said video and 3D home tours also gave potential buyers “significantly improved perspective on the quality, size and layout of a property”.

Mr Warnak expected his agency to continue to hold auctions for tenanted properties online, to minimise disruption for the renters and improve efficiency for buyers.

“It also means as a business, we can have them midweek. We don’t have to fill up our Saturdays,” he said.

First-home buyer Andrew (pictured) purchased a Glen Huntly apartment on digital platform Gavl earlier this month.

He said he preferred being able to bid through the app rather than being the centre of attention at a face-to-face auction.

“It’s very straightforward and the agents were really helpful in explaining the process as well,” Andrew said.

“I was also able to be on the phone with family at the time. You could hear the excitement in their voices, as well, when I was making a bid.”

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jack.boronovskis@news.com.au

@jackboronovskis

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