3D-printed houses, robots, etc. Anybody worried?

[Neo]

So I know this is thinking VERY long term, but the technology already exists today to 3-D print a house in one day for about $10k. The printer is mobile so it prints the home on the owner's site. Aside from that, robots are doing more and more everyday and will probably be involved in construction at some point, again lowering costs.

I know this won't impact me tomorrow, but does anyone see these technological advances disrupting the traditional real estate market? Many renters might opt to own a new home for $10k v. renting an apartment in my buildings. Of course they will still have to buy land and presumably that land would be in the exurbs due to availability. But if they have self driving cars maybe people don't mind being 50 miles out of town. If landlords can build an apartment building with robots in a week for a fraction of the historical cost, does that put heavy downward pressure on rents all over?

Just curious if anyone else is thinking about the potential disruptive nature of technology in RE!

[OkieM]

That is pretty much just building the shell. You mentioned land but you also have to throw in utilities hookups, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, floors, etc. A stick frame shell isn’t much more than $10,000 on a rental sized place, anyway. If there is a disruptive system it will probably be in pre built panels that include a lot of wiring and plumbing and can be shipped flat pack. Generally these type methods save on labor but are beefier designs so the materials eats up savings. So it’d be pretty hard to drop new home prices significantly faster than the rate of deflation (which would be the result of a positive supply shock like the one you are suggesting with comprehensive Automation).

[Fitzy1]

Hi Neo - I'm not going to pretend that I have any particular insight into the RE market - but I see something that might disrupt this disruption.

The first is that affordable (if cramped) housing already exists for under 10k in the form of tiny houses. Or used RV's.

Rather than have to buy a plot of land with tiny homes or RV's, you can work something out with a private landowner to park in their driveway/use their water/electric. Enter AirBnB for parking spots?

Of course, you could always open a trailer park in the boonies - though from what I understand, many cities and more than a few towns have zoning in place to prevent future trailer parks.