Six findings from the Proptech CoLab industry survey
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Cloud infrastructure, modern data tooling, and capable AI have made building software faster and cheaper than at any point in proptech history.
The inaugural Proptech Pulse 2026 surveyed 146 Australian and New Zealand proptech leaders to reveal the data that shows the proptech challenge is no longer just about building tech but how to ensure the tech is adopted, integrated and trusted.
Across six headline findings, the report demonstrates that the hardest challenges are no longer technical - they are deeply human.
Finding 1: Adoption is a human problem, not a technical one
The most critical insight in the study is that 42% of respondents named change management and training effort as the top barrier to adoption, outranking integration difficulty (25%) and budget constraints (25%). The bottleneck isn't whether the software works; it’s whether an organisation will change how its people operate to use it.
On the flip side, the top drivers unlocking trust and adoption are practical mechanisms for de-risking organisational change rather than product showcases. Pilots or trials that prove tangible value lea at 55%, followed closely by clear implementation plans and timeframes (47%) and practical case studies showcasing real outcomes (39%).
Counter-intuitively, this friction intensifies as products mature. Among pre-launch startups, just 24% flag change management as a blocker. Among those live with early customers, it jumps to 42%, hitting 52% to 54% for scaling or established companies. Scaling proptechs are selling into larger, entrenched businesses where changing workflows is hard work. Adoption friction isn't a phase you outgrow - it’s the central challenge of scaling.
Finding 2: Interoperability is the operating system of value
Proptech doesn't deliver value in isolation. It delivers value by connecting seamlessly to the systems property businesses rely on every day, such as CRMs, portals, trust accounting, and property management platforms. The report reveals that 73% of respondents must connect to existing customer systems often or almost always to deliver core value. In practice, most proptech founders are running integration businesses whether they planned to or not.
The pain points compound at the data layer, driven by missing or incomplete data (49%), legacy systems limiting access (28%), and inconsistent data formats (17%). Because of this, the appetite for shared infrastructure is overwhelming. A resounding 76% say common industry data standards would make adoption easier, while the most-requested industry action is stronger integration marketplaces or ecosystems (32%). The sector is calling for an operating system. Connection, not creation, is the bottleneck - and whoever builds the connective rails wins.
Finding 3: The market wants automation with a human in the loop
While AI dominates conference headlines, practitioners on the ground tell a far more grounded story. Demand for automation is real, but it’s concentrated in unglamorous, high-frequency work: workflow routing and reminders (36%), reporting and insights (35%), and compliance checks that flag items for review (29%). The market wants relief from administrative drudgery and insurance against human error - not autonomous decision-making.
Crucially, 65% of respondents rate human oversight of automated workflows as critical (4 or 5 out of 5 in importance), with 28% choosing the maximum score. Not a single respondent rated human oversight as unimportant. Customer concerns reflect this emphasis on trust and accountability, led by staff acceptance and workflow disruption (47%), accuracy and errors (45%), and privacy and data governance (42%). In real estate, where transactions are high-value and errors carry serious consequences, the winning AI proposition isn't autonomous; it's assistive, transparent, and accountable.
Finding 4: The compliance frontier - AML/CTF Tranche Two
With Australia’s Tranche 2 AML/CTF reforms extending obligations to real estate professionals, regulatory readiness is top of mind. 75% of respondents are aware of the impending changes, and 71% already support customers who will need to comply.
Yet, the sector's response is running at two speeds. While 24% are taking a "monitor and wait" approach, a decisive 43% are actively taking action by embedding compliance features, integrating with specialist providers, or offering managed services. A firm regulatory deadline coupled with a split market is a classic setup: the early movers become the industry default. Vendors prioritising AML/CTF readiness now - identity verification, digital audit trails, and seamless specialist integrations - will capture market share while others are still watching from the sidelines.
Finding 5: The energy-data whitespace
One of the starkest gaps in the report is the distance between regulatory awareness around energy efficiency and actual software capability. 70% of respondents know governments are moving toward mandatory residential energy-performance ratings (like NatHERS) at the point of sale or lease. However, 49% say energy-efficiency features are not currently planned, and only 3% actively support energy data today.
This awareness-action gap signals a massive opportunity. The push for clear energy and sustainability data isn't just driven by policy; it's market-led, fuelled by electrification, living costs, and consumer expectations. The proptechs that build robust energy data models today will define the standards the rest of the market relies on tomorrow.
Finding 6: Distribution delivers the real advantage
When founders were asked to name their top business priorities for the next 12 months, they didn't say AI; they said customers. Winning new customers tops the list at 72% - more than double the second priority, expanding existing accounts (30%) - while building AI capabilities came in fourth at just 18%. Customer acquisition is the primary driver at every stage of business maturity, from pre-launch startups (71%) to established market leaders (90%).
However, the data highlights a clear strategic paradox. While founders identify change management and onboarding as their biggest adoption blockers, only 11% are prioritising onboarding improvements, and just 5% are focusing on customer retention.
The need to build a connected, market-ready future
The findings from the Proptech CoLab report are valuable because they provide data that demonstrates how change management, interoperability, trust, AI governance, and regulatory compliance - happen between people and systems. The competitive edge has officially shifted from what you can build to what you can get adopted.
For founders, that means treating onboarding, customer success, and proof of value with the same engineering rigour as your product roadmap. For investors, it means looking closely at implementation velocity, pilot-to-paid conversion, and retention metrics. Incumbents and platforms must open their ecosystems, because collaborative, connected platforms will outpace walled gardens every time. Finally, policymakers must provide clear regulatory frameworks and data standards that give businesses the confidence to adopt new tools.