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Uncategorized

Recession: Everything Real Estate Developers Must Know for the Upcoming Year

The first quarter of CY2022 was a boom for real estate in India; the sales had finally picked up. For the city of Pune, the CY2021 closed with 37,218 units and going by the figures of Q1 of CY 2022, it is expected that the year would be crossing record-breaking 50,000+ units.

However, just when the industry was recovering from the effects of the pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war gave rise to inflation, making the costs of crude oil, metals etc., plunge.

The situation saw an increase in the cost of building raw materials by 20-30%, forcing builders to increase the prices of real estate projects. According to the CREDAI reports, around 60% of real estate builders had anticipated a 20-25% hike in property prices.

The inflation of the costs of commodities, the slowing down of the export cycle globally and the tightening of domestic policies have fueled a risk of a prolonged recession. While we are not overheating like the U.S., but neither is demand fully recovering. The investment firms that had plans to diversify their portfolios in real estate have also halted the plans because of significant losses in shares. The falling rupee price has also made the economy volatile and vulnerable.

According to RERA and IGR data, there are more than 45,000 unsold inventories in just Pune which will take approximately 2 years to sell.

Such a situation leads to a problem where the gap between supply and demand is widening because the homebuyer’s preferences do not match the supply of the market. Developers are still inclined towards premium pricing, while homebuyers are unable to stretch their budgets.

We, at BeyondWalls, recently conducted market research on home buyer’s preferences from Pune and here are the findings:

  • In mid-segment, 2 BHKs between INR 45-60 Lac is the most in demand. Whereas the 60%+ supply of 2 BHKs is in the range of INR 65-90 Lac.
  • For premium and luxury – the demand has increased in last 2 years after lockdown due WFH & hybrid module. This demand is for 3 BHKs in the range of 70-90 Lacs whereas, price of a premium 3 BHKs ranges from 90-1.2 Cr.

With respect to preferences, buyer’s prioritized factors in the following sequence:

  • Pricing

  • Location

  • Apartment Size

  • Possession Date

  • Amenities

  • Developer/Brand

Pricing being the main factor for selection, it will become crucial for developers to launch/bring the pricing in this range to sustain, sell and grow.

However, while the buyers in India will delay their homebuying decisions, the NRI investors will find it cheaper to invest in properties in India, opening a small window of opportunity.

To Sum it Up for Real Estate in Pune,

Real estate developers must keep the following points while traversing the industry:

  • Property pricing will play a significant role for developers. Understanding the market demand will be crucial
  • There may still be an increase in demand for mid-segment at the right price, but anything premium will see a decline
  • The saleable premium location projects with no competition will still thrive
  • Buyers will not take risks with the new launches unless they meet their every preference and expectation. The volume of real estate sales we generally see during a new launch will be slower
Categories
PropTech

How is PropTech Shaping the Real Estate Industry?

PropTech is the newest catchphrase in the real estate industry today. Although challenges exist, PropTech has changed the real estate sector with the inclusion of technology, bringing multiple benefits to buyers and sellers. Erstwhile, the industry used to rely heavily on paper-based processes and personal contact. However, developers and consumers have taken things to the next level using technology in recent years.

From searching for preferred properties and constructing a unique project to selling to diverse audiences, PropTech has changed the environment for real estate stakeholders. Here, we study the way PropTech is benefiting the real estate industry.

Benefits of PropTech in the Real Estate Industry

The Indian real estate industry is growing fast. It is expected to occupy a market share of $1 trillion by 2030 and contribute 13% to India’s GDP by 2025. PropTech aspires to increasingly adopt new advancements & strategies to drive this sector, streamline operations, cut down on paperwork, reduce losses, and improve customer satisfaction.

Here are a few ways that are aligning real estate where PropTech companies in India and abroad benefit the real estate world:

  • Reduction of Paperwork and Easy Data Collection

  • Automating processes and real estate innovation drastically reduces paperwork, saving time and resources. Therefore, market players can focus more on communicating with market players, conducting market research, and attending to the other critical aspects of the real estate business. PropTech also makes data collection easier through automation.

  • Bringing Transparency across the Processes, Payments, and Communication

  • Smart devices and sensors under the Internet of Things (IoT) system enable property owners to bring more clarity to the real-time conditions of their properties. They can coordinate with tenants 24/7 regarding the security and maintenance of facilities.

    The same technology also brings transparency throughout payment and communications for real estate managers. For example, since Real estate sales have also gone online, business is transacted digitally, and documents are shared online in real-time. As a result, the process is a faster and more efficient way of transparently conducting business.

  • Proptech Brings the Benefits of CRM

  • Another way that PropTech benefits real estate companies is through Customer Relation Management (CRM) systems. CRMs have come to be a significant part of PropTech and bring numerous advantages to the industry, including:

    1. Increase in Productivity and Efficiency

    2. With CRM, you can automate repetitive tasks wherein your sales teams can focus on more critical activities. The automation herein can decrease the turnaround time for sales & marketing cycles and pave the way for more streamlined operations.

    3. Higher Customer Retention

    4. CRM keeps customers in the loop, updating them with newsletters, regular emails, and so on. The automated messaging features help to keep the customers in check and drive the way to retain them.

    5. Multi-channel Integration

    6. CRM also helps to bring various platforms together through a single window, ensuring seamless communication between customers and various departments within the company.

    7. Faster Response to Customer Queries

    8. Customers can be reached automatically within minutes. Moreover, customizable messages include comprehensive information that manual operators might miss.

  • Taking Sales & Marketing to the Next Level with Automation

  • AI and other related technologies eliminate the monotony from sales and marketing. Using automation, marketers process huge volumes of information available through PropTech databases. It enables them to make better leasing, investment, and buying decisions. They can also benefit by finding best-selling opportunities. This step ties in nicely with the advanced features of a CRM.

  • Empowering Real Estate Digital Platforms and New-Age Agents

  • PropTech introduced cutting-edge technologies with digital platforms tailored to the needs of new-age agents who are only too eager to benefit from these new real estate trends. The real estate market, which historically lagged in technology utilization, has started to turn to PropTech and reap benefits in the past few years. 

    A prime example is how property managers can now use automated IoT systems to monitor energy and water consumption to minimize wastage, among other aspects of daily life at particular properties. 

  • Showing Novel Ways to Manage Inventory Digitally

  • Inventory management is becoming more tech-driven than previously, based on manual methods and endless paperwork. More data is available to evaluate inventories and make purchase decisions making the entire stack of inventory management fast and efficient through a single window.

    For example, the holding period of a property is 24 months before a new property owner can claim tax benefits. Delays in seeing units and subsequent allotment can cause loss to a property owner due to additional taxation. The tech-driven inventory management enables swifter transactions because prospective buyers can see units in real-time, and sellers can allot them faster.

  • IoT-Powered Property Management Tools

  • With internet-powered devices surrounding us, PropTech makes the best use of the Internet of Things (IoT) to power business functions and operate using connected smart devices. A prime example of IoT-enabled products and services is the emergence of smart cities and smart buildings as a result of PropTech real estate innovations.

  • Drones, BIM, & AI for Improved Construction Techniques

  • Building Information Modeling (BIM) forms the basis of digital transformation in the construction and real estate industry. PropTech has motivated real estate companies to use technology like AI and other tools for conducting their business. 

    Among such is the rising trend of drone usage. While visiting a property, it is not always possible to physically view the entire property span, particularly in gated communities. Prospective buyers can see the property in its entirety, significantly impacting property listings for a particular property.

    1. Drones

    2. Drones

      Drones enable prospective buyers to see not only the immediate property they are considering buying but the entire layout, which is otherwise not physically possible.

      Drones also help maintenance by scanning buildings for defects. For example, a palm-sized drone can scan a skyscraper in a short time and record the surface for cracks, measure the temperature, and so on.

    3. BIM

    4. BIM

      BIM provides critical guidance to architects and engineers by helping them design and constructs buildings according to set procedures and safety guidelines.

    5. AI

    6. AI

      AI uses algorithms and data analytics that provide critical information for future scenarios. Smart Contracts use AI to enable speedy transactions, drastically reducing searching and sorting. AI also helps in accurate property valuation. Even building services management has become AI-driven today.

  • Advanced Analytics and Reporting for Improving Operations

  • Companies are now set up to extensively use advanced analytics and reporting for improved decision-making and daily operations. As mentioned above, PropTech has introduced customized digital platforms tailored to the specific requirements of the real estate industry.  

    Real estate sales and marketing involve collecting, processing, and storing huge volumes of data. PropTech digital platforms enable easier, more efficient, and swifter data handling. It also provides AI-driven solutions in the various areas of real estate marketing, like investment, leasing, buying, selling, and development.

Conclusion:

PropTech is universally beneficial to consumers, brokers, and developers in the real estate industry. Consumers get a 360° view of their options from digital access using IoT-powered tools. 

Brokers make the best use of real estate digital platforms. They can improve their operations using the advanced analytics and reporting systems that PropTech brings. And finally, developers use drones, BIM, and AI to optimize construction techniques. 

Digital transformation still needs to be completed in the real estate sector. But as we have highlighted here, PropTech is taking the real estate world to a whole new level. Stakeholders who believe in technology-driven real estate solutions need to take the plunge because it seems likely that the PropTech market is going to be on the winning side of technology in the future of the real estate world.

Brokers make the best use of real estate digital platforms. They can improve their operations using the advanced analytics and reporting systems that  PropTech brings. And finally, developers use drones, BIM, and AI to optimize construction techniques.

Digital transformation still needs to be completed in the real estate sector. But as we have highlighted here, PropTech is taking the real estate world to a whole new level. Stakeholders who believe in technology-driven real estate solutions need to take the plunge because it seems likely that the PropTech market is going to be on the winning side of technology in the future of the real estate world.

Categories
PropTech

PropTech and Its Benefits for Consumers and Developers

PropTech or property technology refers to the tech tools used to optimize how real estate sales are planned and performed. It is a force that drives an ecosystem of inventive businesses and products across the commercial and residential real estate markets. It also led to huge investments post the global pandemic, and it is expected to hit almost 1TN USD by the end of 2030. 

Commercial and residential real estate PropTech refers to the various tools PropTech companies use to probe, rent, and market residential and commercial properties. This includes property search platforms, construction planning and managing tools, evaluation and financing tools, asset utilization tools, etc., supported by blockchain, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), the Internet of Things (IoT), and 5G.

Despite being new, the PropTech market has drastically modified various real estate trends. In today’s world, real estate businesses across the country are increasingly exploring integrated PropTech solutions to beat the challenges at the commercial and residential levels. 

The conventional consumer real estate approach was hanging on word-of-mouth marketing and physically surveying the property. However, PropTech solutions have customized buying and selling experiences. Consumers can explore property and surroundings in real-time remotely. Further, the advent of real estate PropTech has enabled real estate buyers and sellers to establish agreements without any involvement of brokers. 

The PropTech market has benefitted not only the consumers but also the developers. PropTech has made brand awareness, engagement, and advertisements comparatively cheaper than the conventional marketing model. 

Real Estate PropTech Benefits to Consumers in India

Real estate Proptech benefits consumers by easing their search for a property and offering transparency. PropTech provides explicit awareness to consumers that avoid misreading and squandering. Check out a few significant benefits of PropTech to consumers.

PropTech benefits for consumers
  • Easy Property Searching

  • With the ever-expanding potential of the PropTech market, the real estate space changed its marketing way. It now focuses on listing residential and commercial properties online for easy sales. This integrated PropTech approach has enabled consumers to view multiple properties from the comfort of their homes.

    Further, numerous property search platforms backed by AI, sale tools, financing tools, and management tools (IoT-powered tools) offer customers easy access to properties with minimum brokerage fees and hidden expenses and their reviews and tools to rate the infrastructure, making properties easily searchable.

  • Secure & Seamless Buying 

  • Property technology offers a seamless and straightforward model for buying a house. Its primary objective is to make the entire experience of buying a house more user-friendly and efficient. Many notable companies in the PropTech market offer property sale tools, evaluation and financing tools like transaction underwriting & management, debt financing platforms, etc.

    With these tools, loans, mortgages, and refinance formalities can be completed online, at least partly. Further, blockchain technology can be used to confirm encrypted transactions and ensure that no tampering impacts financial records. It will make the buying process more secure and seamless.

  • Automation Of Paperwork

  • Real estate sales and purchases entail a lot of documentation and formalities. However, with digitization, online property paper verification tools, legal consulting, and notarization services, this aspect has been simplified and eased documentation, making the entire process easier for the consumer.

    With the help of blockchain, Proptech helps buyers and sellers instantly create and authenticate contracts and essential documents. Real estate agents can use PropTech tools to do digital contracting. With the automation of paperwork, consumers can buy property easily. 

  • 3D Virtual House & Apartment Tours

  • PropTech technologies like 3D virtual tours and virtual reality (VR) help give consumers demos and virtual tours that effectively add value to the real estate experience. Consumers can move from one room to another, mount stairs, and even imagine homes that are not yet completed.

    Most of these tools allow consumers to play around with the colors, textures, furniture, and fittings for a more authentic experience. Consumers can know the area, design, and ventilation of the property. This customization style certainly amuses consumers deeper as they can visualize themselves living in that house. 

  • Direct & Effortless Communication

  • PropTech technology has allowed buyers and sellers to communicate directly, making the process more comfortable. Tools like blockchain, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI) provide customized buying and selling experiences. It also forms a socially interactive experience among buyers and sellers. 

    Many PropTech companies offer tools like online help, virtual assistants, and chats to help consumers clarify queries and apprehensions directly. In case the consumers need further assistance, actual calls are made by the sales or technical team to communicate with them.

  • Real-Time Updates at the Fingertips

  • With the rise in PropTech culture, consumers can keep everything at their fingertips with their mobile app for real-time updates. Various mobile app lets consumers keep documents, download agreements, obtain real-time notifications, view events & meetings, and much more.

    Further, with tools like smart devices and sensors (IoT), property owners don’t have to inspect their properties physically, as all the updates about the property’s security and maintenance are accessible on a mobile screen.

Benefits of PropTech to Developers in India

Real estate developers are benefiting from the surge in new PropTech technological developments to bring digital changeover to the property industry. Let’s read through a few significant benefits of PropTech for developers.

PropTech benefits for Developers
  • Smart Marketing & Sales strategies

  • Proptech big data tool is used to improve the marketing of properties to redefine target buyers and get better offers. Further PropTech tools have escalated real estate marketing strategies. Technology-enabled design and construction tools have helped observe growth, investment, leasing, buying, and selling options. Further 

    The focus is on accelerating the construction process, reducing waste, improving quality, and reducing the overall costs of construction. It is helping real estate developers indicate the most profitable locations to build a new property and choose the amenities that will suit the buyers.

  • Exploiting IoT, Robotics, Drone, & BIM 

  • For real estate developers, PropTech allows accurate plan construction to reduce mistakes or failure to meet deadlines. Accurate planning of construction reduces, if not eliminates, the chance of critical mistakes or failure, which may result in millions lost.

    Further efficient use of IoT-powered tools, robotics, drones, and building information modeling (BIM) offers successful data-driven decisive insights at a granular level. It helps predict property deals, efficient risk management, and enhance consumer engagement.

  • Transparent Communication & Payments 

  • With the help of PropTech, most of the processes can be automated. This brings clarity to all stakeholders, management, employees, banks, channel partners, customers, etc. It allows commercial and residential developers to move towards smart documents and securitize using blockchain.

    Further, property management platforms can use the payment facilitator model to create a secure and seamless payment experience for the consumer. Also, they can offer multiple payment options to facilitate the consumers.

  • Digital Inventory Management

  • Real Estate developers transfer a significant number of inventory regularly with their consumers. A digital inventory management tool is used to keep track of these inventory-related transactions.

    It helps view and analyze data in real-time and facilitates inventory accounting. Furthermore, it allows for valuable statistics about how the business performs. This enables identifying trends and taking benefit of shifts in the real estate market.

  • Reports & Analytics

  • Real estate developers can predict a property’s future perils and prospects based on geography and other factors. PropTech allows for exceptional granularity of the research, which otherwise may not have been available. Thus, PropTech is transforming real estate reports and analytics. 

    PropTech companies use big data to forecast property prices with greater accuracy. Big data can also be used to improve the marketing of properties, as big data analytics tools can be used to redefine target buyers and get better offers. Big data can also help in risk analysis of investing in new projects.

  • Superior Post-Sales Services 

  • Post-Sales Services allow developers to channel the requests of consumers to solve them all and thus guarantee their total satisfaction. Property real estate technology supports developers in providing superior post-sales services by following up and closing transactions.

    It effectively converts leads into customers through features such as cost sheet management, post-booking communication, demand letter generation, payment reminders, customer loyalty, and other essential processes.

Conclusion:

PropTech has a massive mark on real estate for both developers and consumers. It has changed every facet of the real estate business. The blend of AI, automation, and big data has created an environment in which the PropTech market has strongly emerged.

India’s market has risen and produced some of India’s most notable PropTech companies. They offer unique tools and platforms that contain the various solutions required for the growth of the real estate sector in India.

Categories
Real Estate Sales

How is PropTech Playing a Role To Digitize Real Estate Sales in India? 

India recorded a staggering number of 658 million internet users this year. With the help of these statistics, it can be concluded that there is an enormous digital presence in the country, and that people are increasingly relying upon it. Real estate has a commercial stronghold in the country, and it is soon expected to account for approximately 13% of the nation’s GDP. Since digitization has taken over so many other aspects of our lives, has a sector as important as real estate also been digitized?

Digitization of Real Estate in India

Digitization of Real Estate in India

The answer is a definite yes. A recent survey has shown that upto 40% of consumers today are willing to purchase homes completely online. With the increasing adoption of the internet, it has become the primary source from where most homebuyers begin their purchasing journey. The reliance on physical listings has gone down, and websites and apps have become the new ideal marketplace for real estate properties.

The pandemic played a major role in this change, since it made people more familiar and comfortable with the digital world. In the case of real estate, the emergence of Proptech too contributed to the increasing popularity of real estate online sales.

The Role Played by PropTech

The Role Played by PropTech

Proptech is the combination of ‘Property’ and ‘Technology’. It means the adoption of technology for various aspects related to property development, marketing & sales. With the growing presence of Proptech and emergence of more PropTech companies, the real estate industry has been completely transformed.

Real estate sales are the most crucial aspect of the operations of the industry. It is the main source of revenue for the industry, and hence it is essential that sales are carried out as productively as possible. Such high productivity can only be attained with tech adoption, which is where Proptech benefits the industry,

Here’s how PropTech is enabling digitization in real estate:

  1. Enhancing Marketing Efforts:

  2. Enhancing Marketing Efforts:

    Marketing is the step that precedes sales, because it is only through marketing that your brand and its products can be seen by your target audience. With PropTech, marketing efforts can be automated to yield maximum results for minimum efforts. It also has a variety of other benefits such as:

    • Efficient lead generation and lead capturing
    • Enables personalized interaction with leads
    • Omni-channel marketing

    These benefits greatly help in creating a bridge between a real estate brand and a homebuyer, which can ultimately result in optimizing real estate marketing and sales efforts.

  3. Enhancing the Site Experience for Consumers:

  4. Enhancing the Site Experience for Consumers

    Site visits can make or break a real estate sale. The most significant advantage that Proptech has for the digitization of sales, is the enhancement of site experience for consumers.

    Proptech has brought with it several new technologies, such as VR and AR, with the help of which a site visit can be experienced by consumers from any corner of the world. Sales are no longer restricted within geographical boundaries, which expands the scope of sales.

    Furthermore, site visits are also not limited to properties with completed constructions. Under-construction properties can be transformed by technology, and the site visit can give consumers a feel of how the property will look upon completion. With this, the sales velocity can be boosted since even under-construction properties can be sold.

  5. Seamless Sales Cycle:

  6. Seamless Sales Cycle

    One of the biggest challenges in the traditional real estate sales process is that it is not simplified. There are a lot of complications and nuances, which prove to be a hassle for consumers. Proptech, however, has created a smooth and seamless sales cycle.

    During the sales journey, consumers need to be nurtured and kept engaged. With automation, these tasks can be easily and effectively managed. Timely interactions can be initiated with consumers at every stage, and communication too can be made personalized based on the unique requirements and preferences of each consumer.

    • Property negotiations
    • Finalization and closure of deals
    • Tracking and execution of payments
    • Document creation and management

    can all be performed with the help of technology. With the streamlining of these activities, the entire sales cycle is optimized.

    Proptech is thus the foundation upon which the digitization of real estate relies. It has disrupted the traditional operations of the sector, making it highly efficient and effective.

Case Study for Real Estate Sales Digitization- Mahindra Happinest

Happinest Palghar, a project of the renowned housing society Mahindra Happinest, had a landmark launch and sales process.

The project was launched during the covid outbreak, where people were extremely hesitant to step out or interact with other people. This made the traditional real estate sales process an impossible proposition for Mahindra Happinest. This challenge gave rise to a revolutionary idea, wherein the entire sales process was made completely digital. India’s leading CRM solution was leveraged to curate a technological platform that could enable the end-to-end online sale of homes.

By harnessing the power of Proptech solution to digitize the sales process, Mahindra Happinest scaled their sales and achieved:

  • 300+ bookings in 3 weeks
  • 250+ daily virtual meetings

India is on an optimum path to adopt digitization in real estate sales and boost the growth of the sector. Proptech is an inseparable part of this journey and can be the ideal partner for real estate businesses. BeyondWalls is an integrated Proptech ecosystem in India, which can streamline all entire real estate operations. It is an end-to-end marketing and sales partner, which aims to make homebuying a seamless and elevated experience.