Gaurav Aidasani, Founder and Managing Director, Union Square House Real Estate Broker
When buying a home, you are not only spending lots of money but a lot of time too. On average, end-users view 15-20 homes in person before making an offer. This is equivalent to approximately 15-20 hours for a homebuyer and 20-25 hours for a realtor before closing a sale.
Investors often skip viewings and buy off-plan, which makes it difficult for them to envisage the built environment, the building itself, the units and the specific views they offer.
Property tours are often stressful, involving planning and coordination between the realtor and the buyer, traffic, finding the property location, parking, gaining access to the unit, not to mention missing work or cancelling plans to make time for the viewings.
Real estate listings are mainly accompanied by photos which could be old, edited and deceiving. Videos and 360 tours available on the market today are somehow interactive and can assist in the screening phase, helping prospective buyers shortlist properties for physical viewing.
Similar to the rent-to-own scheme, could a ‘buy virtual-to-own physical’ model be the next big thing in real estate?
However, the metaverse will take property viewing to a whole new level. It will provide buyers with a unique immersive experience, allowing them to ‘shorten the shortlist’ from 20 to possibly three properties. Given its ability to seamlessly blend the virtual and real worlds, the metaverse may even enable homebuyers to make an informed purchase decision based solely on the virtual version of the property.
While physical viewing will remain king, viewing properties on the metaverse will be of great value for international investors who can’t spare time for travel, or any investor or homebuyer during times when physical viewing is challenging due to travel restrictions and social distancing.
During physical viewings, you may be in a rush and thus overlook certain details, especially while listening to your property agent walk you through the property. You may need to conduct multiple visits to check aspects you haven’t paid attention to previously, or to show the property to a spouse, family member or friend. On the other hand, viewing on the metaverse gives you the flexibility to view anytime, spend as much time as you need, and inspect all features of the property.
Earlier this year, we announced our plans to launch the first metaverse mansions in the MENA region. Selling ultra-luxury digital properties as NFTs, with or without their physical twins, means we will be able to offer homebuyers a unique opportunity to view their physical properties in Augmented Reality (AR) form and interact with other users and digital neighbours. All of that will be possible from the comfort of their homes, without the need to schedule time for physical tours.
We are also looking to create final metaverse replicas of ready and off-plan physical properties, allowing AR viewings and enhanced visualization of features, reducing the time cost of real estate transactions and shortening the entire sales cycle. This also enables investors to examine off-plan properties before they buy, instead of blindly purchasing based on enhanced renders.
The adoption of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in Dubai is on the rise. The real estate sector is one of the primary beneficiaries of Web3 applications. Research shows that real estate sales in the metaverse reached $500 million in 2021. Metaverse property sales are expected to double in 2022. The virtual real estate market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 31% from 2022 to 2028.
Similar to the rent-to-own scheme, could a ‘buy virtual-to-own physical’ model be the next big thing in real estate?
Our foray into the metaverse stems from our strong belief in a prevalent virtual world that is set to transform many sectors, on top of which is real estate. In the long term, owning virtual assets such as real estate will benefit those with access to the metaverse, leaving others behind. In futuristic cities like Dubai, which thrives on a predominantly young generation, people understand the value and potential of digital assets.
Digital real estate has already gone mainstream. A number of lenders are even offering mortgages to support customers in buying virtual properties. All these developments give fresh momentum to digital properties, presenting investors in the metaverse with an opportunity to multiply the value of their virtual assets over the coming few years.
The consistent growth of the UAE economy and the nation’s remarkable response to the pandemic bolstered Dubai’s global appeal among investors, residents and visitors. The positive sentiment and market appeal continue to attract investors, not least those investing in virtual worlds.
Homebuying is not only a financial investment but also a time-consuming and tiring process. Just a few years ago, virtual viewings were uncommon. A growing number of homebuyers may soon opt for buying the metaverse version of a home – to experience it – before buying the physical home. Similar to the rent-to-own scheme, could a ‘buy virtual-to-own physical’ model be the next big thing in real estate?