Many real estate developers and marketers agreed that metaverse and virtual reality will contribute to the development of the real estate market in Egypt during the next period. However, it will take some time for the Egyptian consumer to accept it.
They explained that the availability of virtual reality technologies in the real estate market would help export and market Egyptian real estate by working on living real experiences through online tours inside properties, in addition to creating a state of competition between companies to provide the best product to customers.
In December, a plot of digital land in Decentraland — an online, virtual-only environment — sold for a record $2.43m worth of cryptocurrency; more than double the prior record high for virtual real estate, which was more than $913,000.
Metaverse Group, a subsidiary of Tokens.com, completed the purchase of a patch of digital land for 618,000 mana, or about $2.43m at the time, according to a Decentraland spokesperson and a statement by Tokens.com. Mana is Decentraland’s cryptocurrency, which users employ to buy and sell assets in the virtual space.
Mohamed Khalil, the Head of the Technology Sector at the Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD), said that the New Administrative Capital (NAC) project allows customers to make virtual tours via the internet remotely inside residential units, which is very similar to Metaverse’s technology.
Khalil believes that the impact of the changing dynamics of buying and selling operations within the real estate sector will need some time after exporting new technology to the Egyptian market.
He stressed that the Metaverse’s technology will be available in Egypt in the near future, coinciding with the state of technological development the country is witnessing and the process of digital transformation in various economic sectors.
For his part, Dubai Developments’ Commercial Head Ashraf Diaa said that the Metaverse’s technology would be important for internal and external communication, marketing, and connecting developers inside the country with foreign consultants and officers.
He noted that initiating Metaverse in the real estate industry will benefit the market and will ease business communication, which in turn will boost property export.
The entry of virtual reality technologies, including Metaverse, into the real estate market will be very popular among young customers, considering that their success depends on the regulatory frameworks regulating their work to ensure the protection of users’ rights, he disclosed.
Commercial Director at Edge Holding Karim Mamoun said that the metaverse will make it easier for clients to see the project in which they will live in without the hassle of going periodically to the unit.
Mamoun explained that the entry of metaverse technology into Egypt’s real estate market will lead to the creation of new tools in the buying and selling process, shortening time and saving effort, as well as helping the customer in seeing a realistic simulation of the residential unit before making a purchase decision.
He further noted that the new technology might increase companies’ sales, but in the meantime, it would increase the cost of communication and marketing on developers, adding that the technology will take time to be widely used by developers.
Moreover, the Metaverse will revive property sales, he stated, explaining that “the technique will represent a golden investment opportunity for companies to compete to provide value-added services to customers.”
Furthermore, Sales Manager at Diarna Real Estate Reda Al-Menshawy said that the technology would take time to be applied properly in Egypt’s real estate market.
He believed that the Metaverse would be a mean or channel that could be used by developers or marketing companies to sell units. He also rejected the idea that if the technology entered the market, it would increase the cost of properties.
He explained that it may decrease the cost of brokerage, as clients can see their units without a salesman, meaning that the Metaverse will also reduce human interactions if units are purchased.
He believed that the new technology would play a role in facilitating the buying and selling process, as it allows making a virtual simulation of the housing unit before owning it, and then changing the competition map in favour of companies that have development initiatives in this regard.
Moreover, Al-Menshawy expects that the Metaverse’s technology would be more useful in the resale and renting process or for ready-to-move units.
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