08/09/2021
Tokenized Real estate: 2021 Update.
by Max Bijkerk on .tech
Last updated: Sep 6th, 2021 Reading time: 7 min read
The idea of fractional real estate ownership is nothing new. Already since 1960, (Real Estate Investment Trusts) were introduced in the United States.
By pooling investors’ capital in REITs, the real estate market suddenly became much more accessible. You could now invest in real estate without having to buy or manage properties yourself.
Fast forward to 2021, and a new revolution in the world of real estate is unfolding in front of our eyes. This time, it’s called “tokenization”.
Real estate tokenization is the process of partitioning real estate into many small pieces, called tokens. Whoever owns a token, owns a piece of the underlying asset.
These tokens are created during a so-called STO (Security Token Offering), in which the real estate is essentially split up into digital, tradable assets stored on a blockchain.
It’s easy to see why people are enthusiastic about this development. The global real estate market values at around $280 trillion, making it one of the largest markets on earth. At the same time, it’s one of the most illiquid and intransparent markets out there.
In other words: a recipe for disruption.
Blockchain, known for bringing transparency and efficiency to systems in which value is stored and transferred, was envisioned to play the main role in this tokenization disruption.
But how far have we come? Is real estate tokenization actually happening? Is the technology delivering on its expectations?
In this article, we try to give an accurate representation of the current status of tokenized real estate anno 2021.
real estate tokenization process diagram
Why tokenize real estate
Before we dive into that however, it’s important to know why we should even pursue real estate tokenization in the first place.
Here are a couple of reasons.
Low entry barriers
Just like how REITs made real estate investments more accessible to regular people, real estate tokenization does the same - on steroids.
In 2019, a luxury villa in Paris valued at €6.5 million was tokenized and put on the Ethereum blockchain. The asset was subsequently split into 1 million pieces of as small as €6.5 (!)
With a piece of real estate costing about the same price of a burger, tokenization drastically lowers the entry barriers. A much wider range of investors is able to access the real estate market.
Diversification
As the entry barriers of owning tokenized real estate become lower, investors are able to create highly diversified portfolios.
“I’d like one piece of a luxury villa in Paris, two pieces of a shopping mall in New York, and another piece of a flat in Hong Kong please.”
- “Great choice, that’ll be $28.90 please.”
Liquidity
The wider audience that’s able to be reached due to lower entry barriers is not the only driver behind a more liquid real estate market.
As digital tokens on a blockchain are able to be securely and efficiently transferred without a middleman, trading of these asset-backed tokens suddenly becomes much easier and cheaper as well, leading to increased liquidity.
Increased efficiency
Blockchain technology, with its ability to automate processes and to cut out middlemen, can lead to cheaper and more efficient processes.
As Stephen Macdonald, Australian partner at The Proptech Connection, a specialist firm working to bridge the gap between technology, real estate and investment, points out in an interview with Blockdata: “The use of smart contracts has the ability to drive down fees and costs, which will be positive for real estate investors and the sector.”