In the face of social distancing, the search for real estate on virtual platforms grew, confirming the bet of startups and companies that acted strongly on the internet and, at the same time, pressured developers and real estate companies to quickly invest in technology to follow this transition from the physical to the digital world. This shift is not limited to ads on websites and apps, which are increasingly detailed and with interactive tools, such as photos, videos, virtual tours and 3D mockups. The whole process has been impacted. Meetings are no longer in person and even the signing of contracts and financing are now digitally celebrated. If not the entire journey, much of it nowadays requires only a computer or a smartphone.
The pandemic boosted the La Haus virtual real estate business in Colombia and Mexico. The startup, born in 2017 and which recently received a $10 million contribution from Kaszek Ventures, increased the market share in Bogotá and Medellín from 4% to 30% in the segment in which it operates. And in Mexico City, where it started operations in April 2019, the pandemic has accelerated growth so much that business in the country already represents 25% the company’s total. Technology and data are responsible for ensuring that buyers make this decision sufficiently informed and with the possibility to compare options, so that, in this way, they genuinely feel that this process was rationally the best they have achieved. The massive use of technology in this sector also reflects on people’s quality of life, especially those interested in real estate. The more information available, the better the filter for face-to-face visits. By selecting fewer properties, but with a greater possibility of closing deals, the consumer saves time and avoids, for example, the need for useless trips in large cities. The acceleration of digitization in the housing market during the COVID-19 pandemic was even more intense in the launch market. The impossibility of face-to-face visits during periods of greatest traffic restriction required developers to invest in technology. But not all companies had the same speed or resource capacity to respond to the demand that was coming in the digital world.