Hong Kong, ever the hotbed for brisk property action and one of the most expensive property markets in the world, is now moving into blockchain to make property purchases more efficient for buyers.

Local property-focused conglomerate New World Development (NWD) and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) have joined forces to set up the territory’s first blockchain-enabled property platform called PropTech, with the Bank of China (BOC) as its first bank user, reported Hong Kong newspaper The Standard (Feb 21). The platform will undergo security testing before its launch.

The implementation of distributed ledger technology (DLT) will reportedly cut down lengthy paperwork processing times. Home buyers will be able to shave as much as eight hours off their signings of purchase agreements and mortgage applications.  

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority estimates that DLT could reduce banks’ operating costs by 15 to 60 percent.

ASTRI CEO Hugh Chow believes DLT could change how property market operations are run to make buying procedures more efficient and flexible.

Akan Wong, NWD’s director of sales and marketing, expects the blockchain platform to see 4,000 users in 2020.

BOC, one of the four largest banks in China, is not a total stranger to blockchain. Cointelegraph noted that BOC and China’s national payment provider UnionPay had teamed up last August to look into how blockchain could be used in payment systems.