Distribution Is The Next Big Challenge For Property Sales
During another segment of the Phuket Property Exchange conference, Michael Kenner, Managing Director and Co Founder of FazWaz, spoke about an issue that does not receive enough attention in real estate: distribution.
While the industry often focuses on pricing, marketing, and product design, Kenner argued that the real bottleneck for new developments is often much simpler.
It is about making sure the property can actually be found.
According to Kenner, demand for property is constantly evolving. Markets experience price pressure, competition between projects increases, and developers must work harder to reach buyers.
But unlike the hotel industry, real estate still lacks a truly effective distribution system.
Hotels Solved This Problem Years Ago
Kenner compared the property sector with hospitality.
Hotels have a highly efficient global distribution network through online travel agencies such as Booking.com, Expedia, and other OTA platforms. These systems allow hotels to distribute inventory across multiple channels simultaneously, making rooms visible to travellers all over the world.
This infrastructure dramatically expanded the reach of the hotel industry.
In contrast, new home developments still rely on a fragmented system of agents, portals, and developer marketing.
The experience for buyers is often inconsistent and inefficient.
Property Distribution Is Still Primitive
From my perspective working with buyers and developers in Phuket, I completely agree with this observation.
There is no equivalent of a global OTA system for new homes.
Developers rely heavily on agents, advertising, and property portals, but there is no unified infrastructure that distributes inventory in a consistent way across markets.
That means buyers often need to search across multiple websites, speak with different agents, and manually compare developments.
It is far from a streamlined experience.
Technology Will Change This
Kenner believes that technology will eventually solve this distribution problem.
As AI driven search, data platforms, and global digital discovery tools continue to develop, the way properties are distributed to potential buyers will become far more sophisticated.
The platforms that successfully organise and distribute property inventory globally will dramatically accelerate the buying process.
The Other Bottleneck: Transaction Speed
Kenner also highlighted another area where the property industry still struggles: the transaction process itself.
Even once a buyer has decided to purchase, the process of completing a transaction can be slow and frustrating.
In many cases it still involves notarisation, physical paperwork, wet signatures, and visits to government offices such as the land office.
Anyone who has completed a property transfer in Thailand will know that the process can take time.
However, this is also beginning to change.
Digital Infrastructure Is Starting To Appear
Thailand, like many countries, has traditionally been cautious when adopting digital infrastructure in legal and government processes.
But that is gradually shifting.
Digital signatures are slowly being accepted in certain areas, contracts are increasingly managed online, and government systems are beginning to modernise.
Even traditionally slow moving institutions are recognising the need to improve efficiency.
As these systems develop, the speed of transactions will naturally improve.
A Faster Property Market
The key takeaway from Kenner’s presentation was that while real estate has historically been slow to adopt technology, the pressure to modernise is now increasing.
Distribution systems will improve.
Digital infrastructure will streamline transactions.
And as these changes take place, the entire property buying process will become faster and more efficient.
From my perspective, that can only be good for the market.
Because when buyers can discover property more easily and complete transactions more smoothly, the entire ecosystem benefits.
