Historically, the property market has been viewed as a complex sector that is dominated by commission-hungry estate agents and law firms. This has changed over the course of the last nine years, however, thanks to both technological advancement and the fall-out from the great recession.
In terms of the latter, the sub-prime mortgage collapse that triggered the recession was also a catalyst for wider change in the global real estate sector, creating greater flexibility for individuals and establishing companies such as Property Rescue (who help vendors to offload their home quickly and efficiently).
The technological evolution that has gripped the property market has been even more impactful, however, gradually changing the process of buying and selling real estate while also creating a greater equilibrium within the sector. The single biggest embodiment of this is the rise of the online real estate market, which enables home-owners to sell their property through a transparent and cost-effective medium that reaches a nationwide market of buyers.
Interestingly, these firms are far more affordable than traditional agents. This is because their business model charges clients a fixed, transparent fee (usually between £300 and £600), rather than a requesting 3% of the total sale value. The issue with the previous model is that it encouraged less scrupulous agent to inflate the cost of individual properties, in a bid to increase their own returns (regardless of the impact that this had on the time taken to complete a sale).
A bigger development may be afoot, however, thanks to the utilisation of big data capabilities. While this enables large companies to outperform their peers, the proliferation of open source technology is making big data software increasingly accessible to individuals with a viable broadband connection. This means that we are drawing closer to the day where the type of data once exclusive to large realtors will be available to everyday buyers and vendors within the marketplace.
This data will include average regional property prices, future development plans and instantly accessible sales histories, while over the course of the next decade we can expect detailed data-sets to be gathered within a single, Cloud-based location. This will undoubtedly save vendors money, while it will also enable aspiring buyers to perform a detailed evaluation of the real-time market and make informed decisions concerning their next purchase.
In time, this may even reduce the level of demand for third-party realtors in developed economies. Instead, individuals with a desire to their sell their home will be able to do so independently, using video marketing to list their property and even host virtual viewings. They could also use accessible data to value and price their home, all without the need for expert, industry assistance.
The same principle applies to buyers, who can easily compare any chosen market quickly and with incredible accuracy.
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