With 150+ participants hailing from over 10 countries, the IBREA 2nd Annual Conference held in conjunction with the NYC Tech Week provided evidence that the real estate industry is ripe for blockchain disruption, but has a long road ahead. Expertise ranged from brokerage, law, developers, educators, entrepreneurs, and asset managers. While the work accomplished to this point is impressive and should be celebrated, barriers to industry-wide adoption remain. Here are two that most pointedly stood out to me. First, to appreciate blockchain technology and justify the effort required for adoption, one must understand it is beyond software; it is a systemic paradigm shift in the execution of transactions, trust, and global operation. From the financial crisis of 2008 and the unprecedented loss of confidence in legacy institutions that followed, the Satoshi Nakamoto white paper detailing Bitcoin and the underlying technology of blockchain delivers an alternative to centralization and the ills of fiat currency. It restores trust, security, and privacy, and provides currency substitutes within the marketplace - increasingly ruled by algorithms and code. We are preparing for a “machine to machine economy,” or rather a interoperable web of computers. Those in the real estate industry who consider blockchain technology as an isolated software development will have a difficult time adapting to and preparing for the digital tsunami it is bringing – real estate can no longer insulate itself from technology disruption. Once the industry grasps the breadth of this innovation, what will incentivize professionals to take action? Who has time to learn an entirely new mode of operation? A collective sentiment held by conference panelists was the technology's penetration will be forced upon the industry as sophisticated teams who are proactive in embracing tools built on blockchain will dominate. The differentiation between current practices will prove to be superior, and players who remain in the traditional operating models will absorb into the innovative firms or outright fail. In the panel 'Using Cryptocurrency for Real Estate,' Piper Moretti, a licensed residential real estate broker and co-founder of The Crypto Realty Group of Keller Williams, shared her experience of facilitating the purchase of oceanfront property in California using Bitcoin. Her team worked to meet the requests of their client by learning what Bitcoin was and how to execute the transaction legally. By taking this step, she is set apart from the mass majority of her competitors. Secondly, while blockchain technology holds incredible potential for industry innovation, it still requires humans to ensure accurate data is being entered into the ledgers. Currently, the real estate industry has a precarious relationship with data as it is traditionally siloed for competitive advantages. The detriment of this practice is that when you pay for services like CoStar, you have to question the quality of information because it often proves to be inaccurate or outdated as essential details are withheld. During a Mipim MetaProp panel discussion held the following day on the topic of data transparency, Colliers International Vice Chairman in New York Marcus Rayner stated, "We subscribe to CoStar, but we don't take CoStar's rents. We have our own conversations with the brokers and landlords to get the right ones." Blockchain leaders must work to identify the benefits of supporting open data practices before professionals can reconcile their trepidation to share it. This will prevent blockchain ledgers from replicating the limitations of a CoStar. Over the coming years, the real estate industry will experience growing pains as it adjusts to a digital age. It must brace itself for the inevitable failures that come with taking a risk on innovation, and have patience to see how failure ultimately produces improvements in efficiency and service. As new tools come online, it is crucial the real estate ecosystem collectively monitors the legitimacy of these offerings and stamps out fraudulent actors - especially in regards to the new phenomenon of initial coin offerings (ICOs). Due diligence is paramount for navigating who to trust for blockchain solutions and opportunity. Through conferences, local chapters, and publications; IBREA is committed to providing an environment for real estate professionals and technologists to collaborate and advance into the 21st century as seamlessly as possible. It is indeed an exciting time to be a real estate professional. I look forward to next years conference and seeing the progress we have made.
Property companies must embrace blockchain and understand that it represents a profound shift from current technology systems, according to panellists at Colliers International's conference in blockchain . Insiders believe the technology will be introduced to the property market by industry leaders who want to maximise the security and transparency offered by blockchain. The conference also covered the issue of data privacy, with Colliers International's , Marcus Rayner vice-chairman in New York , calling on blockchain leaders to promote the benefits of open data, and other commentators emphasising the importance of accurate data for New York 's potential to be realised.