Digital Sales is the New Normal for Real Estate

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The second in the South series of Realty+ Masterclass webinars, the Bengaluru centric E-conclave was held on July 10, 2020 on the topic “The Changing Sales Patterns – Digital & Traditional”. Industry experts from the city of Bengaluru discussed how the Covid crisis has enhanced the use of technology in the real estate sector. Kishore Jain, Managing Director, Jain Heights, President Credai Bengaluru describing the entire mood of the Bengaluru market given the covid 19 pandemic said, “It is a common known fact that Bangalore has always been an end-user market. Bengaluru developers have always shown resilience through all the tough times of real estate. In the initial stages of the pandemic and lockdown everyone was going helter-skelter but slowly developers in Bangalore adapted and incorporated technology in their way of functioning. This has increased resilience of the Bangalore market.” Speaking on real estate going digital Reeza Sebastian Karimpanal, MRICS, President – Residential Business, Embassy Group said. “The lockdown pushed every brand to revamp and start using different modes of technology to continue sales and communicate with customers. Social media helped tremendously share information and offers with customers in a very exciting and real time way. However I still believe that without visiting a property the customer will not make a purchase. Real estate being a tangible asset physical exploration of the property is absolutely necessary before a purchase.” Swaroop Anish, Executive Director – Business Development |Prestige Estates Projects Ltd added, “Usage of technology is fairly strong across Bengaluru. As the age of customers and decision makers’ drop, younger generations use technology to funnel down options and then physically visit fewer sites before making a final decision. During this lock down period home has become an absolute necessity. Inspite of the technology use, in real estate sales do not happen without a touch of a human element.” Sharing the perspective of the millennials of real estate Darshan Govindaraju, Director, Vaishnavi Group said, “In terms of design what millennials want is larger spaces. Now as a millennial I would absolutely agree that the younger gen will complete most of their research online before going for a physical visit. It saves time but also makes me aware of so many more options available. Further, I believe that real estate has always been open to Technology Covid has just enhanced the need.” Vikram Kotnis, Managing Director, Sell.Do & Amura Marketing Technologies Pvt. Ltd. explaining real estate’s progress with technology shared, “Real estate has been the slowest to adopt Technology. The consumer moved online however the Industry took time. However with the covid-19 crisis real estate has been pushed to go online. Bigger brands find it much easier to adopt Technology than smaller brands. This is due to the trust value and reputation that bigger brands have built. That’s why collaboration is very important for the industry to succeed.” Emphasizing on the importance of brokers in real estate Farook Mahmood, Chairman & Managing Director of Silverline Group & Founder President FIABCI-INDIA expressed, “The most important, aspect of real estate whether residential or commercial is the broker. They are the ones who give the project free publicity and the developer ultimately benefits. The broker is a game changer.” Prashant Thakur, Director & Head – Research, ANAROCK Property Consultants the moderator for the session brought the discussion to an end by summarizing, “The message is very clear that number one Bangalore is definitely one of the most resilient markets. The developers have definitely focus more on quality execution rather than quantity. Most developers in Bangalore are very open to the adoption of technology that gives them a leg ahead of the rest of the country. The adoption of Technology right from the construction phase is going to be the deciding factor. Developers need to have a good online reputation management and that increases the trust within home buyers. A buyer does 80% of his property scouting research online hence it is very important for developers and brokers to have a very good online reputation." Aji Issac Mathew, CEO, Indus Net Techsu enquired about the international buyer’s perspective towards the India realty. The other speakers were of view that UAE NRIs were the majority property buyers, mostly in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. Aji added that for the international buyers the digital medium is the best way to connect and even close deals, which developers are now adopting proactively.