The slow-moving real estate technology sector is expected to enjoy one of its best years yet in 2017.
According to a new report, more money will be pumped into the development of technologies specifically for the real estate industry.
And more startups will emerge within the leisure, multi-use and industrial real estate sectors.
âThere is no doubt that there has been a massive exhale from all those in the PropTech industry who were holding their breath through the election season,â said MetaProp NYC co-founder and managing director Aaron Block.
âWith an 8.2 out of 10 investor Confidence Index and 6.6 out of 10 for startups, the surveyâs results support what we have been hearing on the PropTech street â a far less negative atmosphere and greater market optimism from investors and startup CEOs now that the election drama is behind us.
âCombined with the mega-merger of VTS and Hightower, the last few weeks have been unprecedented in the PropTech industry. If I were an incumbent real estate company, Iâd be paying major attention.â
MetaProp NYC, an early stage PropTech accelerator, published it Q4 2016 Global PropTech Confidence Index measuring the health of the real estate tech market from the perspective of the most active PropTech investors and startup CEO/Founders around the world.
The Q4 report found both groups solidly confident about the 2017 outlook, with 92 percent of VCs planning to match or exceed the number of 2016 deals in 2017.
Overall, the Q4 2016 Investorsâ Index was 8.2, up from 8.0 in Q2 2016, while the Q4 2016 Startupsâ Index was 6.6, up from 5.4 in Q2 2016. The Confidence Index has a range of zero to 10. An Index above five indicates that respondents are confident in the market; more responded positive than negative to the survey questions.
Following the US presidential election, 1,500 PropTech investors and CEO/Founders were invited to participate in the Q4 2016 Confidence Index. Entering 2017, the respondentsâ mood was decidedly upbeat.
Following the year-end VTS-Hightower merger, some 57 percent of investors expect to see more M&A activity in 2017. Demonstrating strong sales growth optimism, 63 percent of startups are forecasting at least twice the revenues or more for 2017, compared to their 2016 numbers,
In Q2, 33 percent of startups were targeting asset types outside of commercial and residential, while Q4 saw 43 percent showing greater tech disruption beyond those categories into leisure, multi-use and industrial.
In Q2, 44 percent of startup CEOs said they expected greater difficulty in raising venture capital, but that number dropped to 27 percent in Q4, demonstrating increased optimism.
In Q2, only 17 percent of startups were disrupting multiple asset types, but in Q4, the number shot up to 57 percent, broadening the real estate categories being effected.
The survey was designed in collaboration with the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), based on industry standards for sentiment analysis.
Report: 2017 set to be a good year for real estate tech sector : Real Estate Weekly
