#real-estate-tech

#real-estate-tech

Opendoor Technologies ( NASDAQ: OPEN) went public via SPAC merger in December 2020 with a bold vision: use technology to eliminate friction from home buying and selling. The iBuyer model promised homeowners instant cash sales while buyers browsed algorithmically priced homes online. Investors initially loved it. The pandemic housing boom was rocket fuel. Low rates and remote work sent home prices soaring, and Opendoor's tech-forward approach seemed perfectly timed. But the model had a fatal flaw: buying massive inventory with borrowed money,

The company's chief executive, Johan Svanstrom, said AI was "becoming absolutely central" to the running of the business and its plans for the future. But investors were less enthusiastic, and Rightmove's shares had sunk by more than a quarter at one point on Friday. Rightmove announced plans to invest 60m over the next three years and a large part of this investment will focus on AI.