La Haus Signs Research Agreement with MIT to Investigate Latin American Housing Disparity

Latin American PropTech company La Haus has signed a research agreement with the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Property markets across Latin America are characterised by a lack of reliable data and by slow and antiquated bureaucracy around transactions with governments often not keeping housing data on public record. Together the startup and the university will undertake to investigate the issue of housing disparity in the company's native Colombia and its new market of Mexico using transaction data collected by La Haus.

The investigation will be led by Dr. Albert Saiz, Associate Professor of Urban Economics and Real Estate, who commented:

“For a century, the lack of reliable data about the housing market in Latin America has resulted in policy created by guesswork. Thanks to technology, that is starting to change. La Haus has  collected a treasure trove of data that will lead to the kind of research we haven’t been able to do  until now. This will not only be academic work; we want it to be a step toward public policy that  could improve the access to high-quality housing for the large population of Latin Americans who  struggle to access proper housing.”

Rodrigo Sánchez Ríos, Co-Founder and President of La Haus added: “This research is another step in building a solid road to democratizing access to quality housing for millions of Mexicans and Colombians. The path toward transformation needs several players who understand the ecosystem, and we are honored to play a part in MIT’s research, and thrilled to contribute to solutions to the many challenges of the housing and real estate industry."

Apart from being a worthy cause, the partnership is another publicity coup for La Haus which has generated headlines for its innovative business model, its use of cryptocurrency in housing transactions as well as its big-name investors since it was launched in 2017 by former Stanford Business alumni Jeronimo and Tomás Uribe and Rodrigo Sánchez-Ríos.

The company is one of a new generation of Latin American end-to-end disruptors looking to digitalise and democratise the opaque world of Latin American property transactions. La Haus operates a marketplace for new build properties which also serves as a transaction platform for users to progress the sale and ultimately sign everything online.