Opendoor, Offerpad, and other proptech firms will have to contend with an uncertain housing market Over the last five years, a wave of real estate technology companies, or proptech, have sought to merge technology and big data to upend a housing industry that?s remained antiquated for decades. Financial technology companies, or fintech, have also jumped into the space.
The list of new entrants is seemingly endless and yet still growing. With the housing market flourishing in recent years, proptech and fintech companies have risen along with it, gaining national attention and staggering valuations.
But the housing market is seemingly entering a new chapter. Home sales are lagging, the pace of home price appreciation is slowing, and inventory that?s been stubbornly low across the country has seen spikes in certain markets, particularly on the West Coast. Can these companies still thrive if the housing market goes from a seller?s market to a neutral or buyer?s market" Obviously these changes would effect each company differently, but here?s a taste of the companies Curbed covered in 2018. So-called ?iBuyers? like Opendoor and Offerpad offer an algorithmically determined price to motivated home sellers who for whatever reason need to move as soon as possible and don?t want the hassle of the conventional home-selling process. These startups then flip the house on the open market.
They claim the vast majority of their revenue comes from a transaction fee, not from ...