Enter the Chat Bots

“Finally, 18 percent of title agents and real estate professionals indicated that tools that help with process efficiency and automation, such as customer service chat bots, would help deliver a more efficient home-buying experience,” said Fleming.

“With more and more prospective home buyers searching for homes and information online, chat bots can help real estate agents engage potential customers in real time as they are browsing online listings, at any time of day,” said Fleming. “This technology has great potential to serve the real estate industry.”

The Tipping Point?

“Title agents and real estate professionals are keenly aware that fintech is transforming the industry, and plan to take full advantage of specific technologies for faster and more efficient transactions,” said Fleming.

“35 percent of title agents and real estate professionals anticipate needing software support for remote online notarization, and secure collaboration and communication portals, in the next 7-12 months. Nearly as many (30 percent) title agents and real estate professionals indicate they will require software support as soon as 3-6 months,” said Fleming. “Collectively, 65 percent of respondents intend to adopt these technologies in the next 12 months.”

“Streamlining time-consuming processes, as well as delivering an improved consumer experience, is top of mind for real estate professionals,” said Fleming. “Fintech is here to stay.”

Purchase Market Outlook Dips

“Despite the positive outlook for the potential of fintech, optimism about the housing market decreased among title agents and real estate professionals this quarter. This is likely due to rising mortgage rates and high house prices,” said Fleming. “Until now, rising rates had only impacted the outlook for the refinance market. However, this quarter, in addition to the impact on buyer’s affordability, rising mortgage rates reduce the incentive for existing homeowners to sell their homes. Those who don’t sell, don’t buy either and that is contributing to the decline in sentiment.”

“Title agents and real estate professionals expect residential house prices to increase by 2.2 percent in the next year. The outlook for residential price appreciation is down 2.1 percentage points from the second quarter of 2018, and 1.2 percentage points from the previous year,” said Fleming.