Qld investors to benefit from new REIQ proptech

According to a statement from REIQ, the system enables residential tenancy agreements to be executed as a digital smart contract. Utilising blockchain technology, the new smart contracts will create a simple and secure transaction for each tenancy agreement, it said.

REIQ general manager Josh Callaghan said the “revolutionary” system benefits all parties to the agreement by providing more transparency and enabling new functions that everyone can use.

“All parties will have visibility over the contract at any time from the palm of their hand. By executing as a smart contract, we’re also able to build out the functionality to handle payments of bond and rent, plus facilitate other activities related to the property such as routine inspections and maintenance,” Mr Callaghan said.

“Since the inception of smart contracts, their application to real estate contracts seemed obvious to me. We were very fortunate to discover an Australian-based startup that also shared that vision.”

Mr Callaghan said the new smart contracts would use blockchain technology to create a simple and secure transaction for each tenancy agreement that would leverage the benefits of the technology as an “irrefutable source of truth”. In addition, he said the system has far-reaching applications for the real estate sector, “particularly as more ancillary services come online”.

“Most people have heard about blockchain in the context of bitcoin, which is somewhat unfortunate as the technology has applications for every sector. Smart contracts, in particular, are clearly the way of the future in a form of law that has relied on a handwritten signature for literally thousands of years,” he said.

“At its simplest, a smart contract is a digital contract that can live beyond its initial execution by facilitating transactions and giving all parties a central record of what has happened during the tenancy.”

As well as up-ending the way residential tenancy agreements are executed in Queensland, the proptech innovation will ultimately create a real-time view of the state’s rental market, Mr Callaghan said.

“The instant a tenancy agreement is signed, we will know how much a property was rented for, how long the agreement is for, how long it was vacant and so on, which will give the REIQ unprecedented insights into rental market trends as it happens,” he explained, noting that property investors currently have to rely on rental data that may not reflect the actual details of the tenancy agreement.

“This new level of property market visibility will make Queensland one of the most attractive property investment destinations in the world,” Mr Callaghan concluded.