- Over half (59%) of real estate professionals say APIs are the tech feature they would most like to see improved
- Drooms opens up its API to clients, giving them the ability to seamlessly integrate their virtual data rooms with their existing IT systems
London, 5th March 2020 – Nearly two in three (65%) real estate professionals have cited Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) as the feature they would most like to see incorporated into the tech they use, ahead of security (29%) and blockchain (15%).
New research commissioned by Drooms*, Europe’s leading provider of secure cloud solutions, points to the emergence of APIs as a disruptive force in the real estate industry. Two in three (67%) real estate professionals believe that the efficiency of their organisations would increase if their systems were to have seamless integration with third party platforms giving them access to a variety of functionalities. Of these, 32% believe the increase would be dramatic.
An API enables the interconnection of software systems and data between businesses and third-party providers, representing a major step forward in streamlining workflows. Despite its disruptive potential, the study revealed that over half (59%) of real estate professionals would like to see APIs improved, ahead of other tech features such as security (41%).
The study also identified Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the tech trend most likely to disrupt the real estate industry over the next three years, according to 47% of respondents. This was followed by big data analysis (29%); the Internet of Things (26%); automation (24%); shift to the cloud (21%); virtual/augmented reality (18%); blockchain (15%) 5G (15%); and mobile phone technology/mobile apps (15%).
When asked to assess the potential impact of the adoption of these technologies, over half (56%) of real estate professionals cited their capacity to dramatically reduce costs, while 56% also cite the step up they bring about in the efficiency of business processes. Half (50%) also believe their adoption can give companies a significant competitive edge.
The growing prevalence of automation in the real estate industry can be seen in several applications. Nearly two thirds (65%) of real estate professionals believe automation could complement and take over a significant proportion of document filing. Automation is also seen as an effective solution for investment reporting by 65% of real estate professionals. Other functions that could be significantly automated, according to real estate professionals, include valuations (53%); due diligence (47%) and contract analysis (29%).
Drooms has opened its API to its clients, giving them the ability to seamlessly integrate their virtual data rooms (VDR) with a range of software systems. This includes, for example, real estate market analysis software, which enables the consolidation of fragmented data and the immediate comparison of portfolios with the market. This means data-driven decisions can be made quickly without the need to log in and out of disparate systems, eliminating information siloes and saving time from working between applications.
Alexandre Grellier, Co-founder and Chief Executive of Drooms, commented: “Our research highlights the pressing need for the implementation of greater connectivity in business processes across the real estate industry, to help streamline operations and ultimately drive productivity. By opening up our API, our aim is to support our clients’ organisational processes in a more automated and streamlined way by facilitating informed decision making and accelerating how deal professionals manage stakeholder access to due diligence documentation.”
* Survey conducted between 28 January and 21 February 2020 by PollRight. The panel of 34 real estate investors covers both fund managers and investors across Europe.
