More than 300,000 people are expected to be in Austin, Texas, starting today, for South by Southwest (SXSW), a set of events celebrating the convergence of music, film, technology, education and culture.
The conference covers a wide range of topics—from the future of cities to the changing workplace to the creator economy. And, as in past SXSW conferences, real estate tech will have a significant presence at this year’s event.
On March 13–14, realtor.com® hosts a SXSW Open House at its Austin headquarters. Events include a Proptech Startup Showdown; a discussion with Austin Mayor Kirk Watson on the state of housing in the Texas capital; and a panel on the rising power of female home buyers, featuring author Lindsay Stanberry, Tayor Morrison CEO Sheryl Palmer, realtor.com® Next’s Anna Marie Castiglioni, and National Association of REALTORS® Deputy Chief Economist Jessica Lautz.
At the March 13 PropTech Startup Showdown—a collaboration between realtor.com® and NAR Tech and Innovation—six startup companies will pitch their idea to a panel of judges that reflects the full real estate ecosystem, from MLS leadership and global tech to construction innovation and industry policy.
The contestants are:
- BreatheEV: a company that provides turnkey EV charging solutions
- Contraca: a platform that enables brokerages to create a database of deal histories without requiring agents to adopt to new software
- KeyPath: an AI-powered resident rewards platform that helps landlords with tenant retention
- HouseQuest: a company using augmented reality and AI to reimagine the home shopping experience
- QwikFix: a tool that delivers home repair pricing and repair management at the time of the inspection
- The Real Time App: a transaction management platform and client app that provides buyers and sellers with real-time visibility into the transaction timeline and milestones
Capping off the open house on March 14, Lautz and Colin Allen, executive director of the American Property Owners Alliance, look at the path to building generational wealth and the “penalty” home buyers pay when they put off a home purchase.
For more news from SXSW, including the results of the PropTech Startup Showdown, watch NAR REALTOR® News and NAR’s Tech & Innovation coverage.
