By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 – MHub, a leading end-to-end property marketplace platform is ready to help developers and those in the property ecosystem in accelerating their adoption of digital and virtual technology.

Co-founder Jason Ding said this includes helping property developers future-proof their connection with their digital-centric audience while keeping house buyers and employees safe in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the demand for properties would surge with the reintroduction of the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) which runs from June 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021, which comes with good deals, rebates and discounts for house buyers.

“Therefore, developers, real estate agents, bankers and lawyers need to speed up their digital and online adoption to remain sustainable and relevant in the market.

“As a property technology (proptech) and financial technology (fintech) platform, we are here to cater to all stakeholders' needs and will help to streamline and simplify processes through our applications (apps),” he told Bernama during a recent virtual interview.

Ding said MHub is also looking for more talents to meet the growing demand for proptech and fintech professionals.

To-date, the platform’s suite of apps – which are used by developers, banks, lawyers, agents and buyers – has seen over 17,000 bookings for 470 projects worth RM73 billion by over 70 developers.

Operated by TRB Ventures Sdn Bhd, the platform focuses on providing ecosystem solutions to speed up, simplify and save costs in property transactions.

Citing an example, Ding said MHub had recently supported a live-stream online balloting session and digital unit selection for IJM Land Bhd’s Bandar Rimbayu project, which was organised in view of the Movement Control Order (MCO).

He said the first-ever live balloting session was streamlined via IJM Land’s Bandar Rimbayu Facebook page on June 7, where MHub facilitated an unbiased and transparent balloting session for the project’s Starling Phase 1 units.

“The process took about just one and a half hour while booking selections were concluded within minutes.

“This was pretty fast as it normally takes days to be completed when it is done the usual way prior to the MCO,” said Ding.

IJM Land’s sales and marketing assistant general manager Susan Teh said MHub’s platform is relevant to the new normal era of digitalisation and automation, and has helped the company to adapt to the customers' needs.

“With social distancing in place, more project owners in IJM Land are using MHub to complement the current sales process,” she said.

MHub also collaborated with a partner, Matterport, to add the Virtual Walkthrough feature on the platform, enabling contactless property viewing for buyers.

While the platform is currently focusing on business-to-business (B2B) service in the primary market, it is also planning to expand to the more buyer-centric secondary market (sub-sale market), said Ding.

As more processes are being made available online and in real-time, MHub is also discussing with industry players such as the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (REHDA) Malaysia, policymakers, relevant agencies and authorities, including Bank Negara Malaysia, towards forming a standard to make digital signing a reality for the entire market.

Commenting on the matter, REHDA president Datuk Ir Soam Heng Choon said virtual or digital signing is something that needs to be discussed under the Housing Act.

“As a developers' association, we recommend the Housing Ministry to make it part of the Act, or the regulation that enables it. I think it is important under the new normal condition,” added Soam.

-- BERNAMA