TOKYO, July 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — A result of survey was announced by GA technologies Co.,Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato City, Tokyo; CEO: Ryo Higuchi; Securities Code: 3491; “the Company”) on Friday 16th July,  regarding how the real estate industry is embracing the wave of digital transformation.  The speed of digital transformation (“DX”) has accelerated drastically during the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic  compared to the previous survey conducted in June 2020（※1).   In this article, we will focus on the analysis on how real estate companies have been dealing with this DX movement that has been taking place in the industry.

The survey was jointly conducted by ITANDI, Inc., a member of GA technologies groups among 6 other companies and 1 organization conducting business in the PropTech industry.  The mission of ITANDI is to make the real estate transaction process easier and smoother by bringing technology into the entire process.

ITANDI, Inc. (Headquarter at Minato, Tokyo/ CEO: Shinpei Noguchi)
UPDATA CO., Ltd. (Headquarter at Shibuya, Tokyo/ CEO: Masanobu Okamura)
WealthPark Co., Ltd. (Headquarter at Minato, Tokyo/ CEO: Ryuta Kawada)
Servithink Co.,Ltd. (Headquarter at Shinjuku, Tokyo/ CEO: Shinji Namura)
Spacely, Inc.(Headquarter at Shibuya, Tokyo/ CEO: Hiro Morita)
Linough Inc.(Headquarter at Bunkyo, Tokyo/ CEO: Kiyoshi Takizawa)
LEEWAYS Inc. (Headquarter at Shibuya, Tokyo/ CEO: Shigenori Makiguchi)
Real Estate Tech Association for Japan (Headquarter at Minato, Tokyo / Representatives: Masayuki Akagi, Shigenori Makiguchi)

Result summary of how the real estate industry has been dealing with the idea of digital transformation

• “Is your company making any progress on DX aspect?”, More than 90% of companies answered “Yes”: which exceeds 90% and it is 1.5 times compared to last year.
• “What is your purpose of making this transformation?”, about 85% answered, “To improve business efficiency”.
• Most companies pointed out that “It is hard to hire professionals with adequate DX skills and knowledge” when it comes to the obstacles in the process of DX.  This also shows that the lack of people with proper DX knowledge and skills has continually been an issue for most companies.
• When it comes to the annual budget willing to spend on DX aspect, over 50% answered “more than 1,000,000 JPY“, and 18% answered “more than 10,000,000 JPY” in which we can see a serious progress being made by the entrepreneurs.
• We can see an increase of willingness about installing the electronic application system, and we are positive that the installation rate will rise gradually.
• After the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, installation rate of tools for supporting remote working has increased significantly, including “online meeting system”, “App for property owners / portal site service”, “electronic application system”, “electronic contract system” and “VR / online tour system”. More than 83% of the companies answered, “Want to install an electronic application/contract system”.  30% answered that “the preparation is underway”; however, 20% of the companies are “Interested about the option but are uncertain about how to operate and which system to choose.

Why do real estate companies start to make this digital shift?

When it comes to the purpose of bringing in technology into the business process, more than 90% of the companies answered that they have been doing some forms of DX compared to the previous survey, which the result was 60%. There is 1.5 times increase from the result this time in a short term of 1 year. For this shift, more than 85% mentioned that the improvement of the overall work efficiency is the major reason for such change.

Things the companies find difficult during the process of this transformation

When it comes to obstacles of making this shift, “Hard to find the right person with adequate skills and professional knowledge about DX.” tops the list, followed by the “lack of budget”.  In the previous survey, we could also find in 60% of the companies’ such reasons as the “lack of the knowledge and skills, know-how needed for this transformation”, “Hard to hire and maintain such human resources”, “Hard to find such person with appropriate skills to lead the team and take the initiative of the transformation”.  From this result, we can see that “Lack of appropriate human resources with adequate DX knowledge and skills” has continue to be a major issue for most companies wanting to make the shift.

Annual budget willing to spend on the digital transformation aspect

About how much a company is willing to spend annually on making this DX, 67% answered with “More than 500,000 JPY“, followed by “More than 1,000,000 JPY“, which is more than 50% company’s answer .  There are even 18% of companies which are willing to spend “More than 10,000,000 JPY” to make such shift.

Progress on the actual installation of rate tools / Customer satisfaction

“Systems, tools for web meetings” takes the No.1 position for both installation rate and customer satisfaction. “Real estate infrastructure system” and “property data management system” are also popular systems when it comes to actual installation following by “VR / online house tour system”, “Chatting tools”, “CRM system”. These systems also gain high installation rates due to the increasing need for remote work and online meetings in the industry. Other than these, the need for “Electronic application/ contract system(s)” also is on the rise, we are positive about the increase regarding the installation rate in this category from now on. On the other hand, industry-exclusive services such as the “Online document (important matters) system”, “Property price estimation system using AI” both have gained more than 50% of customer satisfaction based on the real estate survey we conducted.

Progress of DX tool installation rate in the industry pre/post COVID-19 pedantic

“Online meeting system” and “App for property owners/info/ portal site” have the highest needs after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out followed by “Electronic application system”, “Electronic contract system”.  We can see that tools that are able to deal with the remote working style are the most popular due to the global pandemic.

Willingness of installing the electronic contract system

According to the survey, 83% of the companies are willing to shift to an electronic contract system which explicitly shows that the need for online system is rising.  30% of the companies are already in the process of making such shift.  However, there are still 20% which feels uncertain about which system to choose.

Conclusion

It has been a year since the initial breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The DX movement of the industry is moving faster than ever since the people’s understanding about DX is also changing drastically.  Along with the change in work style and amendments of the related regulations, we are expecting to see an even faster movement of this transformation.  Although we are happy to see some positive changes this DX could bring to the world, we also find that the industry is facing several obstacles that prevent companies from taking the further aggressive steps. The companies and organization carried out this survey are professionals in the real estate industry and are eager to make contributions to the process in this DX that is happening.

Summary of the survey

• Research time: June 3, 2021 – June 25
• Number of replies received: 219 companies /237 people
• Gathering method: Online survey

About ITANDI

ITANDI Inc.
CEO: Shinpei Noguchi
URL: https://www.itandi.co.jp/
Office: 40F, Mitsuisumitomo Roppongi Grand Tower, Roppongi 3-2-1, Minato, Tokyo
Year of Founding: June, 2012 
Capital: 36,000,000 JPY
Services: 

• BtoB software services development and operation : ITANDI BB
• Real estate DX services development and operation: ITANDI BB +
• Self-tour type house hunting platform development and operation: OHEYAGO

About GA technologies

GA technologies Co., Ltd.
CEO: Ryo Higuchi
URL: https://www.ga-tech.co.jp/en/
Office: 40F, Mitsuisumitomo Roppongi Grand Tower, Roppongi 3-2-1, Minato, Tokyo
Year of Founding: March, 2013
Capital: 72,859,9831JPY (As of June 30, 2021)
Services:

• PropTech real estate services platform: RENOSY (Portal media, Real estate agent service, real estate dealing, renovation service, property management)
• SaaS type of BtoB PropTech products development
• Data research and analysis using AI
• Overseas real estate platform service targets at the Greater China area: Shenjumiausuan, overseas PropTech business

Major group companies: ITANDI, Inc, Modern Standard Co, Ltd., Shenjumiausuan Co.,Ltd and other 8 companies

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