Who Owns the Oil? Why the PropTech Industry Needs to Rethink Data Ownership

We’ve seen phenomenal innovation across Australian PropTech in recent years. Brilliant products. Smart founders. Ambitious investors. But if we’re honest, what we’ve built so far isn’t an ecosystem it’s a patchwork.

A patchwork of CRMs, PM systems, analytics dashboards, and niche apps, all competing for space in the same agent workflow, all claiming to be “integrated,” yet most still sitting in isolation.

For all the talk of interoperability, our industry remains fragmented. APIs exist, yes but they’re often expensive, inconsistent, or built around proprietary advantage rather than shared value.

The result? Agents and business owners are the ones paying for duplicated effort, inconsistent data, and friction-filled workflows.

Let’s Be Honest About Integration

Integration isn’t a badge of honour; it’s a responsibility.

When only a handful of companies control the data pipes, everyone else pays the tolls.

And when integrations are structured as commercial partnerships instead of open collaboration, the result isn’t an ecosystem it’s a gated community.

The opportunity now is to rethink how we approach connection. Instead of proprietary APIs and one-way data flows, we need transparent frameworks that create shared value where the agent, the vendor, and the end user all benefit.

PropTech will only evolve if we move from competing on control to competing on insight.

The Data Dilemma

Every one of us in PropTech knows the truth: the raw data that fuels our products comes from the real estate industry itself. Agents, property managers, and offices are the originators.

Yet for decades, the flow of value has been one-way.Data is collected at the front line, aggregated by suppliers, enhanced with third-party layers, and sold back to the same industry that produced it.

The justification has always been the same  “we’ve added to it, so it’s different now.”

But let’s call it what it is: value extraction without equitable return.

It’s the equivalent of drilling on someone else’s land, refining the oil, and then not paying the land owner any rent. 

PropTech doesn’t need to apologise for commercialising data  it needs to start partnering with the people who create it.

A Smarter Model: Shared Ownership, Shared Benefit

The next evolution in PropTech isn’t about the next AI feature, integration layer, or dashboard. It’s about ownership and alignment.

• Ownership: Who owns the source data? Who decides where it goes and how it’s used?

• Alignment: Does the business model serve the long-term interests of the industry that feeds it?

  
  

If PropTech companies want sustainable partnerships with agencies and networks, the answer must increasingly be: together.

Open standards. Transparent data use. Fair commercial models.

Because data is the new oil and we’re all standing on the same resource.

What’s Next: The REIP Model

This is exactly why REIP exists to build a smarter, future where the industry has self determination over its data. Should the industry own its own API’s, invest in products, encourage integrations that provide better insights all of which empowers better decision making. 

My answer to that is a resounding yes. There needs to be more collaboration and shared upside around data. 

PropTech companies can still build, analyse, monetise, and innovate but within a structure that ensures value circulates within the ecosystem, not just out of it.

It’s a model based on reciprocity, not extraction. Collaboration, not competition.

Because the future of PropTech isn’t about who owns the tech it’s about who owns the trust.

And that starts with the data.

The Invitation

To every founder, developer, and investor in PropTech: Let’s build a smarter, fairer industry.

Let’s stop competing for control and start competing to create value for the industry that makes all of our businesses possible.

Data is the new oil, however the industry needs to build the refinery this time around. 

time around