EPRA conducted its first-ever PropTech survey at the beginning of the year, with almost 50% of the EPRA property company members participating. The survey aimed to better grasp the preparedness of the listed sector in Europe in terms of adoption of technologies and their progress towards digital transformation. In general, the responses are encouraging as a great number of listed companies are focusing on their digital agenda and increasing the technical awareness and knowledge of their staff.
In total, 71 participants from 16 countries took part in the survey. While 49% of the companies have a dedicated person in charge of digitalisation and innovation, less than a third have a PropTech strategy in place (fig 1); however, almost 30% are developing one. On the other hand, more than two-thirds of those surveyed have already used the services and products of PropTech companies (fig 2), and above a third have also invested in PropTech start-ups.
The EPRA property company members are mostly interested in technologies that would assist them in the areas of property management, energy consumption and decreasing the carbon footprint of their assets (fig 3). The technologies that companies think would benefit them most span the Internet of Things, digital ecosystems and Big Data.
The survey will be repeated next year to grasp the progress companies have made towards digitalisation. The next edition of the survey will also take into consideration the impact of COVID-19 on the adoption of PropTech solutions by real estate companies.
