First real estate agency registers electronically.

A major milestone was achieved in the project on electronic registrations on the 13th of April when the first real estate agency registered a sale for real estate purchases electronically. The lead-up to this phase has been long, and preparations are underway. Still, real estate agents Ás and Procura reached this milestone last week. They were thus able to complete the final step of the real estate purchase with their customers electronically, with no need to travel to the District Commissioners' office to complete the transaction.

The registration of a deed of title is the final step in the settlement between the seller and the buyer in real estate transactions and seals the transfer of the property from the former to the latter.

The project was initiated by assessing the macroeconomic benefits of electronic records. When the manual work done by real estate agents, lenders, and district officials that will be unnecessary with the introduction of the solution is compiled, the estimated benefit of using it is estimated at 1.2–1.7 billion krónur per year. On top of that, there is the benefit that paper documents do not need to travel between parties and the increased speed of business for lenders and real estate agents.

The next major milestone of the project will be to provide an electronic registration of all documents relating to the purchase of real estate by individuals in urban areas. To do so, it is necessary to add the possibility of registering purchase agreements and mortgage licenses electronically. This work is to be completed in the second half of this year.

The digital registrations have been in development since 2019 and are a collaboration project between Digital Iceland, District Commissioners, the Ministry of Justice, the National Registry of Iceland, and the Centre for Regional Development and Human Resources. Electronic registrations are a key factor in Iceland becoming a leading player in digital administration.