Digital transformation is no longer an option but a mandatory trend for real estate enterprises to overcome difficulties and contribute to promoting the formation of a healthy, transparent, and sustainable market.

Nguyen Manh Ha, Deputy President of the Viet Nam Real Estate Association, said the digital transformation in the real estate market of Viet Nam was taking place slowly because not all market participants were fully aware of the importance of technology.

In construction, for example, the digital transformation was mainly used for energy saving and using green materials while the application of high technologies in development and operation remained modest, he said.

Hoang Mai Chung, chairman of Meey Land Group, said that many technology platforms were developed and helped solve several social problems. However, the real estate market had not yet seen such technology platforms.

He said that property technology (protech) was born to meet the three basic real estate market requirements, including providing information, supporting transactions and managing processes. However, protech in Viet Nam had not managed to develop user data which was big enough.

Many protech companies were forced to close while others struggled to survive. However, the market was potential, Chung said, adding that the difficulties mainly came from the human resources and technology capability.

"Technology is an inevitable trend in every industry, but the fact is that real estate is falling a step behind the common ground," he said.

Currently, each enterprise can only solve a narrow corner in the digital transformation of the real estate market. Technology application was still mainly concentrated in the rental segment and had not been applied much in other activities such as transactions and customer relations.

The slow application of technology in the real estate sector would result in a slow increase in labour productivity and slow revenue growth, Chung said, adding that, like other economic sectors, the real estate market needed more drastic measures to speed up the digitalisation process, including a comprehensive ecosystem and adequate capital resources to motivate enterprises to make breakthroughs.

Nguyen Tran Linh, general director of SSLAND Joint Stock Company, said technologies were comprehensively changing the operation of real estate businesses.

Linh expected that the digital transformation would help improve productivity, efficiency and value for customers with a more transparent market.

Bui Van Luat, general director of Gold Star Holding Asset Development Joint Stock Company, digital transformation was not an easy journey for businesses. He added that it would take time to change the habit and gain the customers' confidence.

Real estate businesses must speed up the digital transformation if they do not want to lose the opportunities, he said, adding that attention should be paid to the training to enhance the knowledge and skills of staff as well as analysis of customers' psychology to raise appropriate digital transformation strategy.

As technology developers in the real estate market struggled to find new directions, digital transformation was not simply a technological revolution. Still, it should also be a revolution in the institution.

The Government played a critical role in the success of digital transformation, Bui Van Doanh, Director of the Viet Nam Real Estate Research Institute, said.

The digital transformation for the real estate market was a long process, Doanh said, adding that developing an ecosystem was vital for the real estate market to follow the sustainable development trend.

Nguyen Cong Chinh, who was in charge of digital transformation at Dat Xanh Mien Bac Real Estate Service Joint Stock Company, said that there was no definite template for digital transformation. Digital transformation was a lengthy process, and the leaders' mindset was a significant factor.

Vo Tri Thanh, Director of the Institute of Branding and Competition Strategy, highlighted four keys towards successful digital transformation in the real estate market.

The first was the vision and determination of leaders.

The second was that the digital transformation strategy must be closely linked with the enterprises' business strategy.

Third, digital transformation should be started from the very beginning and implemented in the best way.

Finally, enterprises should not try to handle everything alone. They should cooperate for mutual development, Thanh stressed.

"Digital transformation in the real estate sector is not only a purely technological revolution but also an institutional revolution to aim at positive and modern changes to improve policies, regulations and working processes. The centre is the people, so whatever you do, you must create trust for the market," Thanh said. — VNS