The (real estate) industry is moving slowly, but it's never moved this fast.

I first made this statement earlier this year, before the full extent of Covid-19, had been felt. Months later, it remains true.

Internationally, there's ongoing and rapid growth amongst tech disruptors in the real estate sector - 'iBuyers', or instant buyers.

iBuyers is a new way of selling property. A company will purchase a home for sale and then sells it on, instead of the traditional list and sell model we're familiar with here. In the US, it's transforming how people buy and sell their homes. Since 2014 billions of dollars has been invested in this emerging sector.

Opendoor was the original i-buyer company, and recently confirmed it's going public. With a value of $4.8 billion, their IPO is in high demand, Opendoor is looking to grow from 21 markets to 100.

While iBuyers are disrupting (the fast-moving part of the market), the traditional model - where a property is listed and sold by an agent (the slower part) is the how the vast majority of properties are sold around the world; especially in New Zealand, and that's not changing any time soon.

How is NZ's market responding to Covid-19?

New Zealand's property market is already rebounding after the second August lockdown. October data shows listings are tracking ahead of 2019 figures.

Meanwhile, in international markets like the US, listings remain down as markets recover from various lockdowns and restrictions, which is happening at different speeds across the States.