In contrast to Baby Boomers and Generation X, Millenials and Generation Z prefer to rent rather than buy. Yet, for a different reason. While Millenials witnessed the great recession in 2008 and prefer traveling to housekeeping, Gen Z people choose to rent to access the must-have amenities — and are ready to pay more for that.
Millenials' share of rental applicants grew by 20% over 2021, with total submission of 39% of all rental apartment applications. In their turn, Gen Z is steadily getting the reputation of people ready to spend more than any previous generation on rent. They are predicted to pay around $226,000 in their lifetime on apartments with affordability to amenities like swimming pools and communal spaces.
The two generations are different, but one thing unites them: they cannot imagine their lives without technology. This remarkable feature significantly changes how people rent their properties, and they expect your communication to use the latest real estate technology trends to be effective and successful.
But what are these newest technical enhancements renters expect from you in 2022? This post will be the answer. Check out the overview from DigitalSuits developers on key real estate tech trends that are changing the industry.
Housing apps
Millennials and Gen Z are always on their phones. That’s why they expect you have a convenient and up-to-date mobile app that will offer a wide range of housing services. That’s why housing apps are always among the top technology trends real estate agents should consider.
What functionality users expect from you
They should be able to find and see the details about a place they like, check rental guarantees about the landlord, have a tool for communication, and access to different accommodation options, including co-living.
Co-living is a term used for housing in which individuals live together and share communal space, typically as an alternative to renting or purchasing their own separate units. Co-living spaces are popular among young people who cannot afford their own homes and enjoy the social aspect of co-living, while rental is more popular among medium and high-income users.
Main advantage of the trend
Housing apps have become one of the best technology trends in real estate thanks to convenience and practicality. Instead of visiting several websites, checking emails for messages from landlords, looking at property listings, and so on — all one has to do is open an app and surf through the options offered.
Best examples
Several housing apps are targeted at the co-living and renting markets you can check out for references, such as Apartment List and Roomi. These apps are good references to see how to allow users to post pictures and descriptions of their space for potential renters and provide listings for roommates looking for rooms or entire apartments/houses.
AR and VR
Millennials and Gen Z value their time and expect technology to provide them with as true-to-life experiences as possible. The idea of taking several hours to get a room tour frustrates them. In this regard, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are ways of bringing new life and excitement to the experience of buying or renting a home.
What functionality users expect from you
Both real estate development trends provide an immersive experience for house showings with virtual tours. AR lets people walk around a house virtually before committing to buying it, while VR lets them experience the feeling of a house up close without physically entering it. Both technologies can also be used for marketing purposes, letting potential buyers see how excellent your property is before they even step inside.
Main advantage of the trend
VR and AR have helped many customers get a much more realistic and immersive experience of looking at a property, resulting in increased interest: TwentiCi reports that guided virtual viewing on properties receives a 19.4% higher conversion rate. By making potential buyers feel more involved with your homes, you’re giving them as much information as possible to make an informed decision.
Best examples
As software development trends in real estate are still in their early stages, AR and VR will eventually become mainstream. To prepare for these changes, realtors need to look at how AR and VR can help attract more customers. For this, we recommend checking out the best examples of AR/VR applications on the real estate market, including AirMeasure, RealAR, and IKEA Place AR application.
Blockchain
Blockchain is a new technology in real estate that provides a secure, encrypted digital ledger for managing transactions without requiring an intermediary like a bank or notary. The technology enables secure contacts and financial operations in the real estate domain.
What functionality users expect from you
Through blockchain, people can exchange money in a reliable, verifiable, and permanent way without third-party involvement or go-betweens. It also allows for more transparent and secure real estate transactions through smart contracts that automatically execute when conditions are met, such as escrow requirements and payments. For example, it can control a house purchase transaction to happen only once all contingencies have been completed and verified.
Main advantage of the trend
The primary benefit of blockchain is that all parties involved have visibility into what has been completed by everyone else during the transaction process, which reduces risk and increases efficiency. Also, with time stamps on records and data points, it becomes easier to audit documents and examine actions taken at every step of the transaction process, improving the various areas of the real estate process, from land registry to fraud prevention.
Best examples
Airbnb and the real estate platform Ubitquity are two examples of how real estate is beginning to leverage blockchain. Both examples cover the essential blockchain aims to secure customer data and enable safe and legal transactions.
For Airbnb, blockchain's key advantage is the ability to store huge host and customer online identity data, letting people quickly access the “trusted” status through an ID number. In turn, Ubitquity is the modern solution for crypto payments, real estate transactions, and recordkeeping.
Digitalization
Digitalization in property management is a critical real estate technology trend constantly rising. In broader terms, you can manage property electronically rather than in person or by phone. But in detail, it also means less investment in paying people traditionally in charge of collecting rent and other fees and providing more convenience in your real estate business.
What functionality users expect from you
All users expect digitalization will let them manage the entire renting process electronically and make it accessible 24/7. In other words, this case of modern real estate technology trends should make life easier for both renters and property managers.
Among other things, renters should be able to apply for rental and pay online without having to go through multiple steps like filling out applications, signing agreements, and uploading documents. Likewise, property managers should enjoy doing business remotely because it makes their lives easier, without the need to spend time going back and forth between office space and sites for no reason.
Main advantage of the trend
As the main thing, technology should make it easier for owners to manage their property and users to find what they want whenever they prefer. In addition, digitalization means you won’t need heavy investment in customer support and can make your property management cost-effective.
Best examples
There are various ways of digitalization available for rental businesses, including digital signatures and 3D views, but using an integrated solution is the best. It lets you monitor and manage property ownership effectively, offering services from leading communication with clients to inventory management and updates.
Also, we recommend paying attention to how commercial businesses work on omnichannel engagement and anticipatory design in their digital solutions.
Increased share of mobile app users
As Millennials and Gen Z rely on phones as their primary device, the need for mobile apps has never been greater. When it comes to these technology trends in real estate, you should aim at adopting your app for all kinds of real estate operations, not only renting and co-living purposes.
What functionality users expect from you
To date, the mobile market has reached almost 9 million apps, so having just an app means nothing to users. For real estate, the main criteria of a mobile app are engagement and multi-functionality. If your software has these features, it will generate more value by offering more user experience.
Engaging users in an app is different than on a website. In fact, it requires adopting new solutions, like those based on AI or blockchain technology we’ve described above, which support multi-functional interaction between humans and machines.
Main advantage of the trend
For real estate players, a mobile app has many benefits. In addition to expanding your customer base and increasing engagement with existing clients, your business can grow faster if you provide customers with a way of staying connected 24/7 and anticipating their needs with your app functionality.
Best examples
We recommend paying attention to Zillow Rentals and Redfin real estate apps. Zillow Rentals maintains a huge database (over 135 million homes), provides a detailed and quick search for users, and supports a highly personalized experience. In its turn, Redfin is an app from a real estate brokerage firm that customizes home purchases with a perfect mix of technology and human input of Redfin real estate agents.
Do you need help with adopting real estate technology trends 2022?
Investing in innovation trends helps real estate businesses meet their main audience, Millennials and Gen Z people, with the solution they like. With a well-built digitalization strategy and a mobile app that uses AR, VR, blockchain, and other cutting-edge technologies, you can get many business-related advantages, including:
- Better seller-buyer communication
- Higher conversion rates
- Brand loyalty
- Deep process optimization
- Better business performance
If you need help with getting these trends to your real estate business, request our real estate website development services! We have experience implementing all the tech solutions mentioned in this guide, and we’ll be glad to be your partner in business digitalization.
To start, just drop us a line with the details about your project, and we’ll address your problem as quickly as possible.
Written by
Evgenia Khimich
Content Marketing Specialist
Evgeniia, a creative content marketing specialist, is involved in researching, writing, and distributing content to keep audiences engaged and drive our brand message forward.
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