Position Yourself for the Technological Gains to Come

Great technological change is coming and also you need to know where those gains will manifest. That’s the only way you can position yourself to make the most of it all.

One prime example: Tag Pivac and his company Fastbrick Robotics is positioned to redefine the global construction business by developing the first fully automated bricklaying robot. Until now bots have required an on-site contractor to assist with the operation.

Named Hadrian, this robot can work around the clock, day and night, laying 1,000 bricks per hour. That’s a new house each and every two days — something that takes its individual equivalent 4-6 weeks of back breaking work.

It’s all 3D computer aided and created. Hadrian calculates where each brick should go and scans and cuts the bricks when they need to be re-shaped. Mortar under pressure is applied towards the brick and no human contact is required. It can even leave areas for wiring and plumbing.

But here’s the main point, numerous articles commenting on this groundbreaking technology are suggesting the significant cost reductions in construction will assist in promoting real estate affordability. But as revolutionary as this technology is, this it cannot achieve.

Because it is not the cost of construction which could spiral out of control above the ability of wages to pay for it, but rather it is the land it rests on. And a better creating technology simply will not solve that problem.

Land, which is fixed within supply, will always sell at the red line — at what the economy can afford for that specific location. It doesn’t really matter if the building costs come down. Land will take increases eventually.

You must understand this. It will make you a better investor. You’lmost all start to see the huge potential increases that are coming for land prices, and you can then work on a way of taking advantage of it all.

In an associated story, last year a company in China called Winsun showed that it may build 10 3D imprinted houses?in just one day. The actual reported cost for each is simply US$5,000. This is an absolute sport changer for the cycle forward. The company has even demonstrated the ability to construct a five story apartment building.

More news from China; an entrepreneur by the name of Zhang Yue and his organization Broad Group are creating a revolution in building city office towers. What is surprising about it is the speed where his buildings are built.?Work towers shoot up at an uncommon three stories per day. Assembled from thousands of factory made steel modules, the whole thing is actually slotted together like a Meccano established. His 57 story office tower dubbed ‘Mini Sky City’ with 19 atriums, office space with regard to 4,000 people as well as 800 apartments, took only 19 days to build.

Once it becomes cheaper to build, people will pay a little more for the land element…and so they will. We are beginning to get an inkling of the great technical gains that are coming this particular cycle. Once you understand what pushes the cycle, you’ll stop listening to those talking of the property collapse, as many do, and start to focus on taking advantage of exactly what may be the biggest real estate growth of all time.

The advances in building technology promised during this period look be stupendous. You can be absolutely certain land price will begin to start to factor in those future gains and owners sets their expectations accordingly.

Companies such as Fastbrick, Winsun and Broad Group have been in various stages of development. But it is a sign of things to arrive, and this trend can only send land prices higher.

The property cycle is turning right in front individuals. This may be the biggest real estate period of all, dwarfing all others. Make sure you’lso are in a position to profit from it as well as time it all to your advantage.

Regards,

Terence Duffy,
Adding Editor, Money Morning

Ed Note: The above article was originally published within The Daily Reckoning.

From the Port Phillip Publishing Library

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