5G and Real Estate

There’s no need to worry if there is there a future in real estate with a growing number of creative ideas hitting the market. But how is technology used in real estate? Optus 5G recently paired with the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G handset and the innovative technology of Hatch Avatour, a small Australian business offering big immersive experiences, to bring the remote real estate experience of property technology to life.

Despite global hurdles seeing many industries pare back to bare minimum, the real estate market continues to ensure Australians have access to homes to buy or rent with innovative property technology. With social distancing requirements put into place, real estate agents are relying on this technology to create open homes online.

The industry is catching up quickly, with real estate companies around the world stepping up to provide home buyers and tenants with a variety of tools to keep the industry alive. In the US, real estate website Nest Seekers International reported that around 60% of home listings offer a video feature, with CEO Eddie Shapiro predicting that number will rise to 100% in the near future.

A recent Goldman Sachs statistic further corroborates this trend, with the American financial heavyweight reporting as many as 1.4 million real estate agents currently using Virtual Reality (VR) to showcase homes, with the worth of these innovative solutions predicted to reach a whopping $80 billion by 2025. The ease of showcasing a property matched with the time-saving safety net of remote viewing seems like a natural step.

This evolution in viewing properties has become a necessity in recent times, proving to be a lifeline for the industry. According to a recent CoreLogic survey of more than 410 real estate professionals, buyer enquiries had fallen sharply along with a decline in consumer sentiment. This trend follows the necessary social distancing laws, making face-to-face open homes nearly impossible. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s April review even cited social distancing as a key element in this downward trend.

Despite the readily available tools and a growing 5G network that can support these technologies, not all real estate agents are equipped to pivot in such uncertain times. A 2019 Altus Group survey of 400 global commercial real estate executives found more than half were still using basic spreadsheets over high-tech software products for key tasks.

In order to showcase the timesaving ease of virtual open homes, the Future Innovations team working on Optus 5G organised Australia’s first real estate VR inspection in collaboration with local tech innovators Hatch Avatour and Samsung. The Hatch Avatour technology is used by the agent to guide a virtual house inspection with 360-degree camera, ensuring no detail is left behind.  

This experience allows real estate agents to conduct private showings virtually, with the added element of virtual reality and augmented reality for potential home buyers and tenants to immerse themselves in the space. Whether it’s busy schedules or adhering to social distancing rules that keep people away, the combination of these technologies ensure homebuyers and tenants have access to all the latest properties.

This 360-degree experience is a gamechanger, allowing private, pre-arranged inspections for buyers and renters whether they’re based locally or internationally. To maximise the immersion, the ample bandwidth and fast, reliable Optus 5G connection was paired with the crisp camera quality of the latest Samsung Galaxy S20. The combination of technology allows the Hatch Avatour VR experience to shine, providing a crystal-clear image that can be seamlessly connected between participants through 5G. The future of real estate looks to merge an easy, timesaving experience with the latest technologies to create an improved customer journey.

Optus 5G available in selected areas. Not in NT or TAS.