The Parcl Protocol, a new real estate investment platform launched this week, will allow users to trade real estate market movements much like they would companies or commodities, allowing investor to gain exposure to real estate without buying a physical asset.
Parcl Protocol users can either buy or short real estate markets based on whether they think the real world property values will increase or decrease.
Backed by blockchain technology, the platform will initially offer users the ability to trade price movements in United States cities including New York City, Miami, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.
There are plans to expand this reach to cities including Paris, London and Singapore later in 2023.
Parcl CEO and co-founder Trevor Bacon said allowing investors to either buy or short real estate markets would bring added stability to the asset class.
“Given the current volatility across asset classes, including real estate, Parcl can provide potential stability,” Mr Bacon said.
“The Parcl Protocol brings tangible asset prices on-chain through a price feed rather than by fully collateralizing the underlying assets, providing both greater liquidity and scalability.
“This amplifies the stability of real estate as an investment class.”
Parcl Protocol users can browse cities and gain market information.
They will be able to access the Parcl Price Feed, which provides a daily calculation of property prices based on median price per square foot/meter, aggregated at either the city or neighborhood level, and updated daily.
Mr Bacon said that the Parcl Protocol was different to fractional ownership models and that the use of derivative trading in the real estate space offered the chance to level the play field for real estate investors.
“Across the globe, real estate is one of the cornerstones of wealth creation, yet there has always been structural inequity in the housing market and current market conditions are rapidly accelerating this inequity worldwide,” Mr Bacon said.
“This is why Parcl was created: It was built to revolutionise how users approach real estate as an investment towards generational wealth.”
With no minimum investment, he said that the platform would allow everyone access to the real estate market.
“By giving everyone the tools they need to access one of the world’s most desired investment classes, Parcl aims to deliver real estate to everyone,” Mr Bacon said.
