Forces Driving ICT Adoption in Real Estate Firms in Kenya

Abstract

ICT plays a significant role in real estate transactions, facilitating efficiency in transactions and reduction of costs. The adoption of the technology has however been sluggish despite its importance property transactions. This set out investigate the factors influencing ICT adoption in the sector, the literature highlighted key issues including and established four main factors with significant influence on ICT adoption- complexity, perceived user benefits, availability of skills and availability of ICT equipment within the firms. The study adopted a descriptive research design that entailed collection of data from a population of 124 comprising of real estate firms comprising of 83 professional firms and 41 real estate agents operating in Nairobi. A random sample of 63 was selected for investigation of the status of ICT adoption. Data was collected using questionnaires. Data analysis was undertaken using inferential and descriptive statistics to test the relationships between the various variables. In the end, the field survey established that these factors play varied significant roles influencing ICT adoption. In conclusion, it is clear from the study results that to enhance ICT adoption in Real Estate firms require a combination of efforts including enhancing user staff skills, acquisition of user friendly equipment, facilitating staff interactions between firms and staff from diverse firms. The study recommended that real estate firms be encouraged to engage ICT professionals who lead in enhancing their capacities and that a similar study covering other parts of the country should be undertaken to be able to generalize the results.