AI Revolutionising Australia’s Real Estate Industry: Accelerating Buyer-Seller Interaction and Easing Housing Crisis

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AI and machine learning are quickly infiltrating Australia’s real estate industry, significantly reshaping the traditional property game. From predicting the selling intentions of homeowners to expediting the process of building approvals, AI’s role in real estate has broad implications.

As Nathan Mawby reports in his article, “How artificial intelligence is changing the way Australian’s property game,” leading real estate agencies are using AI to better understand the needs of their clients. Ray White, Australia’s largest real estate firm, has integrated AI into its services to develop detailed client profiles. According to Mark McLeod, the firm’s Chief Executive of Market Share and Growth, “It’s more than likely you will have worked with our AI if you have inspected a Ray White listing in the past 18 months”. This, he notes, enables the firm to provide customised property listings and identify potential sellers.

Moreover, the AI system recognises trends in users’ property searches, allowing it to infer when a potential seller might be considering a move. McLeod describes how clients have said “it’s funny you called, we are considering selling,” illustrating AI’s ability to time its outreach based on a consumer’s behaviour.

Additionally, machine learning is being used to study property trends, providing homeowners and potential buyers with real-time information about the value of their homes. Jonathan Swift from REA Group states, “That will start with the size and configuration of the home, then looks at what has sold recently and also how many people are looking at similar properties to yours at the moment”.

In his piece, “AI to the rescue in housing affordability crisis,” Jacob Shteyman elucidates how AI technology could help alleviate Australia’s housing affordability crisis. NSW planning minister Paul Scully proposes that AI, like ChatGPT, could expedite building consents by identifying problems in proposals before they are submitted for approval. This proponent-side application of AI could optimise resources and focus on the challenges present in a particular proposal, says Scully.

Scully believes that the key to resolving the housing affordability crisis lies in flooding the market with new supply, asserting that this approach would facilitate increased housing density around new metro lines. However, the minister warns against compromise on quality, stating that developers shouldn’t take this as an invitation to “build crap”.

While AI presents numerous advantages for real estate, the introduction of a new tax on housing supply, referred to as the Housing Productivity Contribution, has sparked controversy. Tom Forrest, Urban Taskforce Chief Executive, criticised the tax, claiming that it could halt many projects before construction even begins, thus working against the government’s commitment to deliver on housing supply.

As the application of AI in Australia’s real estate industry continues to evolve, developers, buyers, and sellers alike need to adapt to this new landscape. AI offers the potential for a more efficient and personalised property market, while also presenting challenges that must be carefully managed to ensure equitable outcomes.

References:

Mawby, N. (2023). How artificial intelligence is changing the way Australian’s property game. https://www.realestate.com.au/news/how-artificial-intelligence-is-changing-the-way-australians-property-game/ 

Shteyman, J. (2023). AI to the rescue in housing affordability crisis. https://au.news.yahoo.com/ai-rescue-housing-affordability-crisis-004737647.html