Buying real estate online – current situation in 2019
Facebook Marketplace launches its own cryptocurrency Libra to “reinvent money” (WSJ). Meanwhile, MercadoLivre (Latin America, marketcap $21 billion) gets $750 million from Paypal, and declares $6.5 billion transacted through its payment system, MercadoPago.
On the other side of the world, France’s leading marketplace LeBonCoin (company valuation above $4 billion) buys companies specialized in payments.
Yet for now you can buy cars, bikes, but not real estate on these platforms. Indeed the only global real estate platforms are Airbnb and its competitors, on the real estate rental market. Airbnb now generates over $1 billion in revenues per quarter.
Yet can we buy properties on real estate websites, somewhere around the globe?
RoofStock in the United States – investing in real estate online
Buying a home online is becoming a reality with the help of companies such as RoofStock. Roofstock is a Fintech marketplace that allows investors to participate in single-family investment properties. It offers investors the ability to buy shares of rental homes for as little as $5,000 each, and has surpassed $1.6 billion in transactions in just three years.
On its website, there is a button called “Buy it Now”.
Real estate market or stock market?
“According to the Case-Shiller Housing Index, the average annualized rate of return for housing increased 3.7% between 1928 and 2013. Stocks returned 9.5% annualized during the same time.” – Investopedia.com
However if we look at the past 20 years, London and UK Property in general has outpaced the S&P 500 index. Does it mean that investing in real estate has become better than investing in stocks? Of course not! Past performance creates bias.
Let’s hope that sooner rather than later, there will be a global platform allowing people to invest in real estate online. This would be all the more useful, as some markets such as Spain or Dubai are markets where now can be a great time to invest, were it not for the hassle that buying abroad represents.
