The online booking service by Phú Mỹ Hưng Development Corporation. Technology helps property companies overcome dificulties. — VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The success story of a start-up, Propzy, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 surprised participants at a conference on technology being held in HCM City.

The protech company reported excellent results for 2020 and plans to soon expand outside HCM City.

It guides customers through the entire process of online real-estate transactions, and is a pioneer in the finance, insurance and real-estate (FIRE tech) solution.

It has 30 transaction centres, 700 employees and a database of 50,000 houses and apartments.

Its success story clearly shows the role played by technology in property companies’ efforts to overcome the challenges caused by the pandemic.

An executive at a market research firm said the use of technology in the real estate sector has come to stay, pointing out that travel restrictions during the pandemic made it difficult for traditional site inspections and direct meetings, but demand for land increased relentlessly.

So more and more online platforms and realty apps have popped up, offering virtual tours so that customers could check out products remotely, she added.

Nguyễn Quốc Anh, deputy general director of major property trading and leasing website batdongsan.com.vn, was quoted by dangcongsan.vn as saying that not only consumption behaviour but also business methods and the way to approach customers have changed dramatically to accommodate the social gap caused by the pandemic. 

“Real estate technology becomes a lifesaver for businesses by providing online sales platforms, helping connect buyers and sellers without having to meet face to face.”

Many companies have embraced technology.

For instance, during the social distancing period, Phú Mỹ Hưng Development Corporation offered online registration for buyers in its The Antonia apartment project.

The company said it could not organise sales events due to social distancing, but thanks to technology it managed to reach out to a large number of prospective buyers.

Online booking is just the first step in completely digitising the sales process, it said, adding an application would be developed soon for this.

Another big player in the market, Novaland Group, has also adopted technology for sales.

It has installed virtual technology so that customers can study its projects from all directions, in various weather conditions and various times of day.

The technology is used at its Novaland Gallery in District 3, HCM City.

Hưng Thịnh Group has recently announced plans to invest US$10 million to develop a proptech platform and put it into operation this year, and said it expects to attract 30,000-50,000 brokers to it.

Cen Land launched cenhomes.vn last year, and it saw 14,000 transactions.

Sunshine Group’s app saw the number of transactions grow.

Other big players like Vinhomes, LinkHouse, Gamuda Land, and Vạn Phúc have also invested a lot of money in technology since last year. — VNS