Real Estate Sector Undergoing a Digital Evolution

Tough times tend to give rise to innovations and improvements and the same is the case with India’s real estate sector. The Coronavirus pandemic and the resultant lockdown has resulted in significant pressure on most of the real estate companies in India. In order to overcome this, the developers have been taking up innovative ways of marketing in contrast to the conventional methods of conducting business earlier. These include virtual tours, video tours, analytics and more.

One of the main reasons behind a fall in sales of properties during the lockdown is due to buyers being unable to visit the project sites. Many developers are giving buyers walkthroughs of properties via videos. Although finalising their choice on the basis of these videos is still rare, many buyers are short listing their options in this manner. Several developers are creating 3D digital models of their projects and allowing potential buyers to take free virtual tours of these properties on web portals. In some cases, the developers are even providing virtual tours of the entire neighbourhood.

Multiple developers have also been hosting e-launches and webinars. Especially, developers with their own portals are hosting such webinars where they are revealing prices and other incentives Moreover, homebuyers can also enquire about their own queries.

These methods are gaining success and popularity rapidly. Firstly, when a developer adopts digital tools, it helps create a positive impression among the homebuyers by communicating a forward-thinking approach & capability to keep pace with modern times. Secondly, with a majority of homebuyers having access to the internet, the online processes are making it much easier and hassle-free to search for & choose homes. Instead of the homebuyers having to go through a large number of options including irrelevant ones, AI-powered chat bots can now interact with them, take a note of their requirements and suggest properties.

In order to reduce physical contact to a minimum, for instance, Xanadu Realty has even enabled sales on their portal. Well-organised web portals can greatly enhance user experience. This is why the top developers are investing sufficient resources to build eye-catching and easy-to-use websites. Considering that virtual tours are still a new trend in India, sales derived from them so far are quite satisfactory.

In order to survive in the market, the developers are rapidly adapting to the present situation by going digital. In fact, certain leading builders already had their own portals since before the pandemic. The trend of digital tours and deals is expected to continue even in the post-lockdown era and people start to realise how convenient it is.