Experts said prospects for Proptech in Vietnam are still positive in spite of existing obstacles arising from a traditional mindset and the high requirement for trust in the local real estate industry.
According to Trang Bui, head of markets at JLL Vietnam, Proptech is growing and expanding in Vietnam on the back of strong momentum in the domestic real estate market, thanks to its benefits in improving accuracy and speed, cost savings and convenience.
The growth of Proptech in the country is more prominent in the active market segments of residential and office. These two sectors see high levels of interest from both developers and buyers and are served by more than a half of Proptech players in the domestic market.
The most notable segments of Proptech is related to residential market in listing and marketplaces, tech-enabled
Meanwhile, the second most active Proptech segment is in co-working which is now strongly growing in line with the booming office market in the country. Since more companies embrace flexible workspace, smart technology has a major role in helping landlords and companies understand, and optimize how various spaces are being used.
At present, nearly 80% of players in the market are foreign startups or startups funded by foreign investors. However, there are several locally founded proptech companies that are well-known in the market and are growing strongly. Among them, batdongsan.com.vn is the biggest player in the market with about 7 million visitors per month on average, much higher than competitors.
In addition to Proptech segments directly serving residential and office sectors, there are those developed to serve related industries such as hotel, property analysis, construction, fund raising. Jeriel Tan, marketing manager at Technode.com, says: “These proptech segments do not solely serve consumers in the near term, but given the fast changing natural and built environment, also affect long-term government planning, sustainability and climate change.”
Proptech companies in Vietnam have started to collaborate with fintech players. According to JLL, the residential sector is expected to be the first to connect proptech and fintech.For instance, real estate management firms are trying to connect and embed e-wallet into their realty management apps in order to enhance services and users’ experience.
Besides, listing real estate websites have announced collaborations with e-wallet providers for easier collection of service fees from their users. However, this integration may take some time since Vietnam is still predominantly a cash economy and credit card penetration is still low.
In spite of inherent obstacles arising from a traditional mindset and the high requirement for trust in the property industry, the prospects for Proptech in Vietnam are still positive, thanks to the young demographics, tech savvy population and available funding and incentives for technological startups.
To assist the start-up culture, making it easier for companies to enter the smart tech market, more support from the government is much needed. Since more competitors enters the market, price will drop and proptech will become more accessible. For the growth of proptech, there is a need for wider and better-quality network connectivity in Vietnam in the future.
Source: https://batdongsan.com.vn/news/expansion-of-proptech-in-vietnam-real-estate-market-ar100956
