Blog

Market Slowdowns Can Be a Boon for Innovation

Jan 20, 2023

Market slowdowns have always been a part of any business as the economy cycles through ups and downs every now and then. When times get tough, some companies go bankrupt or close their doors. Others thrive during these periods, as they create once-in-a-lifetime moments for those that recognize the potential windfall hidden in a market downturn. There is a window of opportunity to focus on the efficiencies of your business so that when the market returns, your business roars along with it.

Over the last several months, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of home purchases and refinances, resulting in an equivalent drop in appraisal volume. At FoxyAI, we saw something similar happen to another real estate market segment, loss mitigation and property preservation, back in 2020. COVID-19 and the subsequent foreclosure moratoriums forced a rapid decline in volume for the companies operating in this space.

Under these circumstances, one might think to batten down the hatches and wait out the storm. However, a number of loss mitigation and property preservation companies took advantage of the opening this created in their technical roadmaps. Since they were less busy with the usual day-to-day, they had an opportunity to step back, look at how they could improve their business, and ultimately invest in Artificial Intelligence to increase efficiency by leaps and bounds. Now that the volume for them has begun to return, they can handle that volume more efficiently and with less overhead than ever before.

At FoxyAI, we are now seeing the same trend happen with appraisal software companies, AVM providers, and others that have seen a decline in the volume of their business due to recent economic events. Many of these companies now have the space on their roadmaps to experiment with and invest in AI for quality control, image labeling, and other uses that lead to process improvements. This way, when the market returns – and it will return – those companies that do so will be far ahead of their competition.

Some intelligent soul once said, “Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.” Carpe Diem!