Part two in the Technology paper series published on Innovation in Investment and Underwriting

The coronavirus pandemic has ensured that 2020 will be remembered as a time of great change. However, the last few months have generally acted as a great accelerator of trends that were already gaining momentum in real estate, rather than reversing the direction of travel. Remote working, e-commerce, ESG, health and wellbeing and many more themes have been reinforced – and real estate must adapt and evolve accordingly. More than ever, technology and innovation are critical tools that the real estate industry must leverage to its advantage if it is to rebound strongly from this crisis. Although this article was written before COVID-19, the content remains relevant and the importance of the conversation around technology and innovation is more important than ever.

This paper addresses how technology can improve underwriting and investment decisions throughout the full cycle of a real estate investment.  It’s the second in a series of papers from the Technology Committee that aim to help INREV members understand how technology can be leveraged to address recurrent challenges in the real estate industry.

Key highlights of the paper include: 

• In sourcing capital and investment opportunities, digital platforms are emerging and have the potential to democratise access to real estate, driving greater transparency and potentially changing real estate into a more public market asset class. 
• In underwriting, as buildings and consumers produce more and more data, technologies from digital twins to AI can enable more informed investment decision making.

The next papers in this series will look at increased efficiencies in existing operational processes.