Necessity is the mother of invention. This anecdote is best personified by the Indian real estate sector. In the aftermath of the pandemic, the real estate sector in India has emerged more resilient than ever before. Consequently, the real estate industry in India is undergoing a radical paradigm shift.
In a rapidly-evolving landscape, traditional realty business models are becoming increasingly integrated with sophisticated features to facilitate homebuyers in finding the home of their dreams. Even as data analytics are being leveraged to forecast future market trends, brokerage firms are also incorporating state-of-the-art virtual reality platforms to radically enhance the overall home buying experience.
Most real estate developers now have dedicated analytical teams that assess customer sentiment across locations and generate attractive deals and offers to make their properties more attractive for homebuyers. Today, homebuyers have become more conscientious when investing in residential real estate. Hence, brokerage agents are now trained to be more attuned to the needs of their customers.
The lockdown in the preceding years has reinforced the significance of homeownership. Many people who were previously comfortable paying rent are now looking to buy homes. This positive buyer sentiment has led to a meteoric rise in real estate demand. The buoyant market sentiment among homebuyers has had a direct impact on the dynamics of real estate brokerage firms, which now look with expectant anticipation to capitalise on the rising demand for real estate. Remote working and hybrid work models have further changed several key parameters that homebuyers looked for when buying real estate. As homebuyers continue to work longer hours from their homes, the demand for spacious integrated homes will also continue to rise steadily. Now, families look for multifunctional homes equipped with reading nooks, built-in workstations and activity spaces.
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Brokerage firms are now offering dedicated specialists who can work with their clients to provide customised solutions for everyone. There is no longer any pressure to purchase a house near the workplace; leading homebuyers to explore more affordable options across peripheral locations, satellite townships and tier-2 cities. Subsequently, this has had a cascading effect on brokerage firms, which have had to pivot their modus operandi to expand their operations across the board.
Subsequently, the technological disruption that is happening in the real estate sector has led brokers to reassess shifts in customer demographics and behaviour on their business models. A new generation of tech-savvy millennial homebuyers is making their presence felt in a big way. For the next generation of homebuyers, hyper-connectivity has changed the real estate game. While location is still an important consideration, in a globalised era of digital mobility, the relationship between businesses and customers have undergone a significant metamorphosis. This has led to the interdependence between physical and virtual spaces being transformed in a significant way.
It then stands to reason that technology will overturn our assumptions, whether we’re prepared for that inevitable future or not. As the world as we know it continues to evolve, its impact on the real estate industry will be felt more profoundly than ever before. Real estate brokerage firms are already leveraging virtual communications, virtual reality and virtual modelling such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) to cater to their customers. As the Metaverse becomes increasingly more intertwined with our everyday lives, the digital landscape will blur the lines of customer perception.
With this digital transformation becoming a part and parcel of the home buying experience, it is inevitable that brokerage companies will leverage the limitless online capabilities of the Metaverse to not only empower their brokerage agents, but also to enrich and enhance how the next generation of homebuyers identify and prospect the real estate of their dreams. These disruptive innovations will modernise business and lead to an escalation in demand for real estate. In the not-so-distant future, 3D printing of utilities, mass customization of home spaces, new construction of materials and methods, digital procurement of platforms, aerial views of the property, big data mining, and augmented reality property walkthroughs will open new avenues for brokerage firms in India. Pioneering technologies in infrastructure will continue to drive competition as the market discovers new supply-and-demand patterns.
It will be an understatement to note that the real estate market is increasingly impacted by government policies and urban management. However, in a globalized world, the interplay of monetary, fiscal and planning policy along with easing of industry regulation and cross-border legislation will continue to affect the real estate sector. The current fiscal year commenced with renewed socio-economic objectives, spearheaded by the government in an attempt to improve market conditions. On its part, the real estate industry has risen to the challenge and demonstrated its readiness to take up the clarion call. The sector has undergone a steady transformation towards being further streamlined in operations and more transparent in functioning.
Looking towards future horizons, the real estate landscape will continue to be highly dynamic. The industry is not the same as before, and neither are its customers. Buyers today have a multitude of options to choose from before purchasing a land or buying a house. Government initiatives such as RERA & REITS ensure customers are confident in making an investment towards their future homes. As homebuyers become more aware, and have access to more sophisticated real-time information, it is a natural extrapolation of current market trends to conclude that investments from domestic and international players will continue to pour into the lucrative Indian real estate market in the coming fiscal year.
(By Shashank Vashishtha, Executive Director, eXp India)