Development of information technology applications can help correct the decline in productivity of Hong Kong's real estate sector, according to an academic.
Anthony Walker, chair of Real Estate and Construction at the University of Hong Kong, said the economy's productivity growth rate had slowed in recent years.
It was reasonable to assume it also had happened in the real estate sector, he said.
He said at a real estate symposium last Friday that in order to arrest the decline in productivity growth, the real estate sector and the Government would need to invest in research and development in all aspects of the sector.
This should encompass novel forms of real estate packaging for investment, securitisation of leases, management systems and information technology, he said.
Of these the most productive in the short-term was the development of information technology applications, he said.
For example, at the professional level automated valuation systems were particularly relevant to Hong Kong's homogeneous housing stock. The technology could link agents, banks, and others involved in property transactions.
