Blockchain Adoption is an Evolution – not a Revolution: : Advantages and Challenges of Blockchain in Real Estate Transaction in Sweden

Abstract: The real estate sector has a large impact on the economy and a significant impact on financialmarket stability. Several unique features characterize the real estate market assets; these arestable cash flow, a stable demand, and low volatility, contributing to the underlying value.However, the industry is considered illiquid due to a lack of transparency, informationasymmetry, and difficulty in quickly executing a trade. Tokenization, smart contracts, anddigital identities are some of the applications of blockchain, which are regarded to be onerevolutionary technology that has the potential to change the real estate market. However, it isnot clear how these technologies would impact real estate transaction processes in the future.Previous research has looked at the blockchain as a financial tool and how it connects to realestate as a legal instrument and a transaction market application to improve transparency andliquidity. However, the previous research has not considered the main risks and challenges witha blockchain adoption in the Swedish residential real estate market. Therefore, this thesis looksat how blockchain technology can be used in the residential real estate sector. The dissertationhas been answered through a structured qualitative study with an inductive approach. Theempirics has been gathered through a literature study, semi-structured interviews, and adocument analysis.The results illustrate that blockchain can be useful in residential real estate transactionprocedures through tokenization, storing ledger, and digital identities. Through our analysis,we could conclude that to adopt blockchain, the industry must take small steps in the directionthat the digital evolution wishes to go. It is not possible to drastically implement blockchain inthe residential real estate market, rather a successive transaction with the help of innovationsand new regulations from the authorities.The ability to store and validate data has been a primary rationale for using the technology asthe industry adjusts to conventional analog business processes that are becoming increasinglydigital. Despite that many view blockchain as a technology that quickly disrupts real estatetransaction processes, we conclude that blockchain innovation instead progressesincrementally due to many challenges and risks associated with the technology and theindustry’s conservative nature. The research contributes to a better understanding of blockchaintechnology and its possibilities and challenges in the real estate industry.