Commercial real estate, an industry once considered inflexible, is a sector ripe with opportunity for blockchain, a technology originally devised for digital currency (Bitcoin), that now allows digital information to be distributed, but not copied. As blockchain becomes an accepted common part of business, industries must examine how this technology could improve or hinder everyday practices, according to SIOR’s “Blockchain and Commercial Real Estate,” a brief authored by blockchain and real estate thought leader, Avi Spielman.

Spielman, who offers ways the technology may impact CRE, says, “Embracing new technology can create advantages for the professionals who change with the times, while rejecting new technology can cause the professionals who remain stagnant to fall behind their peers. This is why it is important to keep an eye on trending technologies, such as blockchain.”

Among the key SIOR takeaways are:
– Real estate and blockchain opportunities include database management, information management, and efficiency with multiple listing services (MLS) and smart contracts (leasing)
– Smart contracts encompass computer programs that take provisions of a contract, codify them, and distribute them across the blockchain ledger
– Databasing and maintenance: Since a blockchain is a database, utilizing it for listing available properties could benefit the market
– A blockchain-based universal MLS service could prevent the need for multiple MLS services, and provide better real-time information on listings, reducing human error, and safeguarding sensitive proprietary information from being shared or commoditized
– Blockchain MLS would reduce, if not virtually eliminate, expensive third-party operating fees