Curated daily by our industry experts. Stay informed on how tech is shaping the real estate industry with these important headlines.
FACILITIES NET
People need people, even when they’re fake people. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that avatarsrepresenting a facilities management team member had much better success promoting energy efficient behavior in occupants than avatars that represented the building as a persona. And facility managers would do well to remember that some light social banter doesn’t hurts things, either….
CONNECT COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
A new generation entering the workforce and a new coterie of tech-centric markets are among the key trends this year, says Cushman & Wakefield. The emergence of Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth and Provo, UT as tech hubs in the making comes in at No. 10 on the firm’s “Top 10 Trends to Watch in Commercial Real Estate 2019” roster. Another tech-related trend figures in the Top 10. Coming in at No. 6 is proptech, with Cushman & Wakefield’s Revathi Greenwood advising, “Watch for the tech indust…
BISNOW
2018 was the year PropTech went mainstream: According to a new survey, a majority of real estate companies around the world with assets of more than $250M (£193M) are now directly investing in at least one PropTech firm. Brokers like JLL and CBRE are investing in PropTech companies and investors like Brookfield and Oxford Properties have set up specific divisions to make investments in companies in the sector. And according to Altus’ latest CRE Innovation Report, 53% of investors with more th…
CP EXECUTIVE
A CBRE analysis of recent office building sales found a majority of those with flexible workspaces sold for either more or roughly the same as properties without flex space and also had cap rates lower than national and market averages. The study, which looked at 31 transactions of buildings with at least 10 percent of square footage devoted to flex space within the past five years, found nearly 40 percent of buildings sold achieved values greater than average for their market. Another 52 per…
GLOBEST
For many organizations — especially property management firms or those who frequently use 1031 exchanges — managing escrow accounts is an essential part of their business, although one that is labor-intensive and time-consuming. Historically, every stage in the escrow process — from opening an account to producing end of year tax forms for the IRS — required them to interact with their bank. To complicate matters, escrow is subject to a confusing combination of professional standards, state and …
THE REAL DEAL
A startup that aims to cut out traditional residential real estate brokers has raised $45 million in its latest funding round. REX, or Real Estate Exchange, announced the Series C funding round Tuesday, bringing its total funding to $75 million since it launched in 2015. The Los Angeles-based startup provides a platform, RexHomes, where customers can buy and sell residential property at a flat 2 percent brokerage fee, compared with broker fees on traditional multiple listing service (MLS) pla…
FAST COMPANY
It’s a bright September morning in San Carlos, California, and Masayoshi Son, chairman of SoftBank, is throwing me off schedule. I’d come, as he had, to meet with the people he’s tapped to run the Vision Fund, his $100 billion bet on the future of, well, everything. After almost four decades of building SoftBank into a telecom conglomerate, Son, an inveterate dealmaker, launched this unprecedented venture two years ago to back startups that he believes are driving a new wave of digital upheaval….
THE REAL DEAL
Keller Williams is likely going to launch its own iBuyer program during the second quarter of the year. Gary Keller, who recently returned to his namesake firm as CEO, said during a presentation of Keller Williams’ technology plans for 2019 that the company would probably launch the initiative in Arizona, Inman reported….
JLL REAL VIEWS
With over five million apps available across the world, just about every fathomable function of daily life can be aided by a finger-tap on a smartphone. Humans spend at least two hours a day in apps. But so far this U$1.3 trillion market has barely serviced the place people spend most of their waking hours: the workplace….
CRETech
The commercial real estate industry is rapidly changing and many new trends have roots in the past that can shape how we move forward. Each quarter, and with the help of leading players within particular industry segments, CREtech will examine key trends and companies shaping the industry. This quarter, we’re starting with multi-family tech—a segment that has seen massive transformations in the 21st century as a result of the continued demand for housing in urban centers teamed with the correspo…
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