The real estate traditionally being laggard has witnessed a rampant surge in the adoption of digital technology amidst coronavirus crisis and lockdown. There is an old saying “Perform or Perish”, it perfectly fits into the current scenario where the entire economy is being hit by an invisible enemy called COVID-19. Coronavirus has brought entire economic activities including real estate construction to a standstill.
In these hard times where outdoor economic activities are not allowed by the government, companies are switching to a digital platform to continue their operations. Survival and continuance of business are a dual challenge posed before real estate players. As of now, several real estate developers across cities have resumed their construction works on the project site. It is a positive sign of the revival of the real estate industry.
In this unprecedented time due to COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, online sellers continued their operations through digital platforms. But real estate developers and builders are not able to continue their normal business operations. Most of the realty players in India are not well equipped with technology to duck any crisis like COVID-19 pandemic. Certain Proptech companies like Square Yards can weather the storm of coronavirus crisis through digital technology and innovation. Accordingly, other online sellers depend on their digital technology to counter zero business hours and run their operations successfully.
During the lockdown, new launches of Real Estate Projects and sales have witnessed a significant drop from before coronavirus outbreak. Despite the coronavirus crisis and lockdown, the real estate industry has registered some significant number of transactions by online sellers.
After witnessing several successful transactions of properties by online sellers amidst lockdown, real estate developers joined the bandwagon in the digital technology race. Industry realtors swiftly adopted digital technology to sell their existing inventory. In this current time, homebuyers cannot visit project sites or sales offices, several reputed developers are offering digital tours of properties on their digital platform. Realtors are using these digital platforms to reply to inquiries and even close their deals.
Certain developers are providing slots to home buyers for a site visit of real estate properties with all the necessary precautions to avoid crowding. Realtors are addressing realty investors and buyers queries online. Several real estate developers in Bengaluru and Mumbai have witnessed a remarkable increase in the volumes of online property inquiries. This signifies that a new system is working and will prevent the industry from major collapse.
For instance, Godrej Properties (Godrej 10:90 Plan) is selling their residential properties online in three simple steps such as select property, view details, and book your home. Any buyer can easily buy property by following these three simple steps. Similarly, several other real estate developers are selling residential homes using digital technology.
Amidst lockdown and coronavirus crisis, even certain reputed developers have launched their new residential projects online. Realtors are offering discounts and incentives on booking real estate property through digital platforms to sell their inventory. These are new methods of doing business for these Real Estate Developers.
The adoption of digital technology by realtors’ post lockdown is expected to continue and will change the way of doing business in real estate forever. It is expected that more real estate developers would follow this path over time and sales would grow steadily.
