Nobroker.com enters commercial realty space

Riding high on rising demand for commercial, office and retail spaces especially from small companies, property portal Nobroker.com has entered the segment and expects this to contribute 30 percent of revenue in a few years, a top company official has said. The company which is operational in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, and Gurugram, is also planning to expand its presence to top 50 cities in the next few years. "There are over 42.5 million small and medium enterprises, which are the biggest consumers of small commercial properties in the country. There is also a huge investment potential in commercial real estate market that offers a rental yield of 7-12 percent, which is way higher than residential real estate. "Our entry is in line with the rising demand for commercial office and retail spaces, especially with the fall in rupee and the rising interest from NRIs," founder and chief executive Amit Agarwal told media. In the new business, the company is targeting small commercial units, offices and retail spaces in the 100-5,000 sqft range. "Our typical tenants are owners of SMEs looking to take on rent these premises for shops or offices. The other customers are those looking to enter commercial space for better rental yield. We have also seen a lot of demand from NRIs thanks to the rupee plunge and better yields," Agarwal said. As per estimates, currently, the top 25 cities generate annual brokerage worth Rs 14,000 crore in commercial rental, which is growing at 13 per cent annually. The brokerage from commercial market sales is around Rs 7,000 crore. "We realised that after successfully establishing ourselves as a key player in residential real estate, we are ready to take the next natural step. We understand the pulse of the market and aim to disrupt this annual brokerage of Rs 21,000 crore with this recent expansion into the commercial real estate sector," he added. When asked how much revenue the company is expecting from the commercial segment, he said, "almost all the revenue come from the residential segment now. In the long run, the revenue mix would be 70:30, where residential would be 70 per cent and commercial would be 30 percent.