Categories
Real Estate Sales

Overcoming the Next Slump: Guiding Principles for Developers in Pune

The Indian economy has proved resilient time and time again. Even the pandemic, which was one of the worst disasters in human history, could not completely derail it. However, the recovery has been slower than many expected. And now that we are inching towards the pre-pandemic levels of economic stability, the Russia-Ukraine war has emerged as a major roadblock. The price of most raw materials has shot up, leaving developers with no choice but to pass on the hike to their consumers.

This coupled with the recent slew of repo rate hikes by the RBI will lead to a dip in home buyers’ appetite. Given that real estate is the second-largest employment generator in India and is expected to contribute 13% to India’s GDP by 2025, we might be heading to a mild recession in the next 6-8 months.

There are more than 4,80,000 unsold units in the top 7 Indian cities as per RERA and IGR data. Pune contributes more than 9% to this number with 45,000+ unsold units, which, at the present rate, will take another 2 years to sell. And yet, we see new projects being launched regularly.

Developers looking to overcome this situation in Pune must strive to understand the changing customer preferences and tailor their offerings to meet demand. Today, while developers are offering marquee properties at a premium, the consumer has become fiscally conservative and is unwilling to spend as much.

BeyondWalls latest market research in Pune corroborated this fact and unveiled some startling insights:

  • Right now, price is the sole decision-making factor behind a purchase.
  • Homebuyers are extremely concerned about the lending rates, economic conditions, and construction risks, and are willing to delay their purchase till they get the right deal.
  • Even in the present situation, the demand for affordable and mid-segment properties remains steady. 2BHKs in the range of INR 50-60 Lakhs are highly sought after.
  • Just 10% of buyers are willing to spend at a premium and even they have fixed budgets and are in no hurry to purchase.
  • Mid-segment is the only inventory that will continue to sell even as the rest of the segments remain stagnant over the next 6-8 months (The only exceptions to this will be projects placed at a premium location and with a significant competitive advantage.)
  • Customers in the current buying cycle are more inclined towards properties that are ready or nearing possession. They will only choose a new launch if its price benefits them.

These insights make clear the need for the right pricing strategy and that any wrong move will hurt the sale of projects. To avoid real estate sales stagnation, here’s what developers must consider when planning a new project:

  • Market demand
  • Product-market fit
  • Sale velocity of the micro-market in the product segment
  • Target buyer’s financial conditions, based on predictive research
  • Communication strategy that markets the product to the target audience

Even with all of this as a guiding principle, developers need to leverage data in their decision-making process. They must make informed decisions that are backed by critical metrics and actionable insights. The first step is analyzing the wealth of data that has been accumulated as a result of their digital transformation initiatives. This would help them understand their target customers, sell their inventory, and ride out the next economic slump with relative ease.

Sources:

  • Primary market research
  • Data from RERA and CREMatrix
  • Business Standard (some information but not data)
  • IBEF
Categories
PropTech

The Growing Role of Prop-Tech In The Digital Transformation of Real Estate

The rising tide of digital transformation is leaving no sector unscathed. From mom-and-pop grocery stores to multi-billion dollar giants, the choice is clear – go digital or go home. The real estate sector is no different. While the industry was already inching towards digitalization, in areas like real estate digital marketing, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 helped kick it into a higher gear.

The PropTech, or property technology industry, has witnessed explosive growth since 2019, with revenues up by 61% on a year-over-year basis, and this is only from publicly traded companies. Beyond this, there has been a substantial surge in M&A deals, and VC funding in the sector,  attracting $32 billion in investments during 2021 alone.

From agents to property developers, facilities managers, and even resident’s welfare associations, adopting disruptive proptech solutions is in full swing throughout the real estate value chain. Initially compelled to continue business in the face of stay-at-home orders, the technologies that came to the fore are now mainstays, with industry giants such as BeyondWalls PropTech ecosystem offering integrated solutions.

Digital transformation and proptech solutions are poised to unlock substantial value for consumers and other players. Based on existing trends, we are yet to see the true potential and range of possibilities that come with these innovations; we can only offer the following conjecture.

1. Communication Made Easy

Communication Made Easy

The biggest benefits of Prop-tech solutions and digital transformation are often witnessed in internal communications. Like most other organizations, real estate developers are finally exploring solutions to ensure an orderly flow of information, with all relevant correspondence in one place.

This reduces instances of friction resulting from poor communication in the workplace and enhances project management systems, which are critical for real estate developers, who often operate on thin margins and tight deadlines. Solutions such as Google Meet, Outlook, and Microsoft Teams can be integrated seamlessly into project management and ERP tools, allowing for an orderly flow of communications.

2. Making The Most of Data In Real-Time

Making The Most of Data In Real-Time

An essential by-product of digitalization endeavours is the treasure trove of data, which can be used to obtain highly beneficial insights. Everything can be predicted with data, whether it signifies the time of year when visitors reach their peak or particular days that witness the highest footfall in communal facilities.

Managers can not only plan for eventualities but can save substantially with prudent resource allocations using faultless data. With powerful APIs, data from multiple apps and tools can be aggregated to provide real-time data on a single dashboard, keeping managers, landlords, and tenants in the loop about all the happenings.

3. Increased Efficiency & Productivity

Increased Efficiency & Productivity

Legacy systems and processes still reigned supreme in the real estate development and brokerage sectors. Dominated by mom-and-pop shops, conducting business based on trust and reputation has long been the norm. However, today, business process management solutions are driving the much-needed disruption in this space.

In the process, developers and agents unlock substantial value with efficiency gains and increased productivity. Many developers now use building information modelling solutions with real-time data to keep track of their projects. At the same time, some agents had since piloted virtual reality for showing houses when physical visits were made difficult during the pandemic.

4. Accessing All-round Metrics

Accessing All-round Metrics

Integrated Proptech Ecosystem adds substantial value for property managers and other facilities management staff, with accurate tracking and reporting of incidents, staff attendance, patrolling logs, and more, allowing for quick decision-making.

Savvy users can use these metrics to ensure efficient property and service management for tenants and guests. A few key metrics in this space include

  • Quality issues
  • Customer satisfaction scores
  • Rework costs
  • Construction tech – forecasting sales & costs and more

On the project management front, these metrics can be traced along with cost per lead, conversion rates, and time to close for sales and marketing professionals.

5. Advanced Analytics

Advanced Analytics

On the other end of the value chain, data goes a lot further in providing insights and unlocking value. With applications across prospecting, marketing, sales, and project management, advanced analytics solutions spearheaded by leading proptech solutions are increasingly becoming indispensable among property developers and real estate agents.

Advanced analytics coming under the purview of business intelligence (BI) also comes in handy with customer relationship management. With digital experiences pervading across all customer touchpoints, it represents a wealth of data when understanding and addressing customer issues and optimizing processes accordingly.

6. Making Informed Decisions

Making Informed Decisions

With the wealth of data resulting from digital transformation, managers can make informed decisions backed by critical metrics and actionable insights. Decisions can be audited against relevant information and data used to arrive at a particular course of action. This removes ambiguity in decision-making at organizations across sectors and sizes.

Data-driven decision-making has since become a field of study on its own. While it remains in nascent stages, it has helped create tremendous value for organizations that manage to implement it. In real estate, developers have adopted systematic decision-making, with data and insights acting as support systems.

Conclusion

Emerging from the pandemic, real estate businesses look unrecognizable, with digital transformation forces penetrating deep across the value chain. Given the substantial efficiency gains on the table, no player in the market can afford to ignore the growing trends among the ever-increasing list of  proptech companies in India.

In an industry dominated by legacy firms, unorganized agents, and fly-by-night operators, unimposing upstarts will now shape the future. If anything, the last two years were a teaser, providing a subtle glimpse of the time to come. Prop-Tech remains at nascent stages, with most pioneers still growing and getting ready to dominate the future.

Categories
Real Estate Sales

6 Key Trends Propelling Real Estate Demand in Metro Cities 

The Indian real estate industry is the backbone of the country’s economy. This sector has seen its highest upswings and downswings in the last two years, mainly due to the events unfolding after the COVID-19 pandemic. Post the second wave subsiding, the real estate sector has remained largely resilient and has shown signs of revival. As India positions itself as the driver of the global economy and promises high-speed growth across industries, commercial real estate, increasing housing demand, and focus on metro real estate will be the key drivers of growth.

The Indian real estate sector is not just crucial due to our growing real estate demand for office space, housing, and accommodation. Still, it is also an essential growth driver for India’s economy. As per  IBEF reports, the real estate sector is the second-highest employment generator in India and is expected to reach US$ 1 trillion in market size by 2030, up from US$ 200 billion in 2021. It is also expected to contribute 13% to its GDP by 2025.

To help cater to this growing demand, the  real estate broker network needs to stay abreast with the latest real estate trends while adopting technology as an enabler to help them reach a wider audience. With post-pandemic driven changes to real estate buying and the growing attention of NRIs and foreign investors, real estate sales processes are changing significantly. Here is a look at the key trends and preferences that will drive real-estate demand in metro cities: 

1. Advancement in Technology

Advancement in Technology

Demand comes soaring in real estate and that too with stiff competition. As customers require personalized and specific recommendations, the real estate broker network needs to increasingly adopt predictive analytics and technology to accurately forecast demand, understand customer preferences, and simplify placing orders with the vendor.  Developers are also keen to use technology to gauge the demand from the users and use it to plan their sales strategies and future projects.
Technology is also being leveraged for internal real estate process management, such as

  • Understanding future demands
  • Inventory management, and
  • Raw material procurement

As time goes by,  real estate sales are increasingly becoming technology & data-driven and will become crucial for real estate developers and service providers. 

2. Preference Towards Mid & Premium Segment

Anupam Verma, 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 & 𝐂𝐄𝐎, 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐣𝐞𝐞 𝐔𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐢a

Since the pandemic, people are spending more time at home, with remote work also being considered by several large organizations. It has changed customer preference, and homebuyers prefer mid to:

  • Premium segment homes
  • Housing societies
  • Plush apartments
  • Gated communities

This growing trend is mainly seen in metro cities and in smaller cities where the younger population is growing and looking for an independent home. 

3. Importance of Leisure, Personal Space, and Flexibility

Vikram Kotnis, MD & Executive Director, BeyondWalls

In addition to a premium apartment, home buyers are also considering amenities provided when it comes to buying or investing in real estate. The buyers are considering new amenities as per:

  • More extensive flats or apartments
  • Space for specifically designed home offices
  • Additional space that includes a terrace or more oversized balcony

Homebuyers also tend to prefer societies with shared co-working spaces, meeting rooms, creche, and other facilities that can help them effectively manage their work-from-home lifestyle.

4. Preference for Low-Density Projects

Sriram Iyer - 𝐌𝐃 & 𝐂𝐄𝐎, 𝐓𝐕𝐒 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲

While COVID-19-led trends have created a shift in how close or segregated most home buyers want to stay, the cost factor also plays a crucial role in homeowners preferring to buy in a high-rise or low-density apartment complex, given that it is a relatively more affordable option.

The growing preference for low-density housing projects also has to do with changing priorities. The daily home-to-office commute is no longer the critical criterion for considering the locality to buy a home. Most customers view properties in areas with lower air pollution levels closer to nature and those that offer easy access to highways. 

5. Continued Focus on Infrastructure Development and Industrial Growth

Sriram Iyer - 𝐌𝐃 & 𝐂𝐄𝐎, 𝐓𝐕𝐒 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲

PropTech or property Technology is yet another growing trend that is prevailing in the real estate industry. Under PropTech, 6 technologies have surfaced to dominate the real estate space, including:

  • SaaS
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Robotic Process Automation
  • Virtual / Augmented Reality, and
  • Blockchain

Several real estate brokers in India and providers are using PropTech to help boost their customer services, offering customers the ease of use and the ability to view the property remotely using the latest technologies.

This is a preference not just for outstation or NRI buyers who cannot physically visit the property; even local buyers prefer to first look at the property and its facilities online before visiting in person. BeyondWalls is the future and will make real estate investment and buying simple and transparent.

6. Investment Aspect to Grow

Sriram Iyer - 𝐌𝐃 & 𝐂𝐄𝐎, 𝐓𝐕𝐒 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲

Real estate is no longer seen just from the prism of home buying or commercial use. Still, it is also considered an excellent investment opportunity by many. In India, institutional investment in real estate has doubled annually to touch $1.1 billion during Q1 2022, and foreign investment accounted for 70% of the inflow. The remaining 30% came from domestic investment, which has regained pre-pandemic levels.

With the rise in demand for co-working spaces and rising influx to metro cities given the higher job opportunities, this sector will continue to see strong interest and significant growth. 

Conclusion

The real estate industry has displayed that despite disruptions and uncertainty, the real estate demand in India has not gone down and will not any time soon. The rising demand for co-working spaces and commercial properties from the residential property, increased demand for data centers, and other vital factors will play a decisive role in enabling the Indian real estate growth.

Metro cities will benefit significantly from this rising demand. While India is witnessing a solid real estate push, reports suggest that Bengaluru can be the country’s favourite real estate investment destination, followed by interest in growing cities like Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai, Goa, and Dehradun.