Interview: Savills consultant H. Shamma talks on what the real estate sector lacks

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

The consultant of Innovation and Strategy for Savills Aguirre Newman assures that the use of the technology in the real estate sector will grow and that until now "we have only seen the first wave" of what they can mean for real estate

Hamzah Shamma is an Innovation and Strategy Consultant at Savills Aguirre Newman. He joined the company as a business developer after going through the engineering company Aries. Shamma says that although the real estate sector "is moving slowly", the proptech is growing, especially in the residential segment. What will be your role in the future? The consultant puts the improvements in sustainability as the main example of what new technologies in real estate can suppose.

Is the real estate digitizing? 

Yes, new technologies are growing and evolving within the real estate sector. It is a very traditional industry, which moves very little by little, but technology offers so many advantages that it is being implemented day by day.

What is the role of the proptech?

There are many very innovative companies that have no experience in the real estate sector but whose knowledge base facilitates their entry. The difficult part in this relationship is technology: that is, it is easier to know real estate than to have the technological knowledge to implement big data or virtual reality. This interests us a lot because there is a lack of technological knowledge in the real estate sector and it is a great asset to find a partner that has it.

What will be the role of the proptech in the coming years?

These companies will grow with total security. What we have seen so far is only the first wave of what new technologies can offer. There are some that are already established in the market as the peer to peer, which is used mainly in the residential. It is also true that the residential segment accepts new technologies much better, in the tertiary there is a lot of space to grow. Sustainability is one of the things that proptech will allow to improve more. The data, for example, will help us save more energy. The next few years will be very interesting.

In what way? 

To give an example, it will greatly improve sustainability. It will allow to have a much wider vision. We have always been limited by the available tools and now the tools will allow us to see the complete picture. With the big data we will be able to cross data, see trends and, in short, have a much wider vision.

Are the proptech a threat to traditional real estate agencies?

No, in any case. You can not see new technologies as a threat: they are a great opportunity. Traditional companies and start ups should have a relationship of mutual benefit, of feedback. If we can collaborate with a start up, we do it.

What is innovation in the real estate sector?

For a long time, the real estate sector has relied on Excel to have and collect information. The treatment of the information we have is the big difference. In a short time, the data is going to be the fundamental pillar for the real estate and as it is treated this data will allow us to differentiate ourselves.

How will it arrive?

There are many technologies that can be applied to improve internal efficiency and companies have to adapt and attack a specific area. The market is huge and there is a lot of space, but new technologies are going to cause companies to have to specialize in a specific segment.

Will virtual reality replace traditional visits?

No, but it will allow you to cut the time when making decisions. For example, if a customer asks us for a logistics asset, we send him pictures of ten options and then he wants to see six of the ships in person. With virtual reality, you can visit these six ships and then see in person one, two or three at most.

Do Spanish investors believe in the proptech sector?

The Spanish market believes in proptech a lot, there is a lot of interest and even more potential. In addition, and now I speak of start ups in general, the methods to invest are improving. Before it was not easy to get financing and now the market has matured and there are more and more incubators and accelerators that allow to get it.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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