Innovation drives realty market post-Covid

Hyderabad: Technology has already transformed the real estate and construction industry in the past few years, now innovation is creating new opportunities in both commercial and residential segments. Post Covid-19, the realty sector has witnessed tremendous changes in promoting the properties.

The real estate companies are leveraging technology and innovation across various channels to continue their business in the challenging times. When compared to residential segment, commercial real estate has suffered more setbacks due to the uncertainty and remote working during the pandemic period and thereafter.

The commercial real estate developers have started adopting innovative strategies to improve the sales. Latest technologies like augmented reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) are being used in marketing to increase the business volumes. More companies are coming up with novel concepts to drive the growth in commercial real estate transactions.

Many startups are coming up with tech-enabled investment platforms to democratise commercial real estate ownership. Hyderabad-headquartered Square Select Estates offers virtual ownership of multiple commercial properties in and around IT corridors of the city. The investment range starts from Rs 65 lakh per sft.

Hyderabad-based startup Assetmonk has brought a tech-enabled real estate investment platform for democratising and simplifying the commercial real estate. It aims to eradicate major investor problems. It allows regular investors to invest in profitable Grade A commercial assets with a click of a button. It has investment opportunities from Rs 10 lakh onwards.

Prudhvi Chinta, Co-founder and COO - Assetmonk, said: "We are reinventing the traditional real estate investments with a modern approach. We understand every investor is unique and has different investment objectives and whether one is a value investor or passive income seeker, it is our primary responsibility to guide and propose them the best investment options."

"Depending on the investment objective, one can explore investing opportunity from our wide range of assets, which are capable of outperforming the traditional financial instruments," he added. "Assetmonk follows an 80-point checklist to evaluate the viability of the asset on various parameters, and many other factors before bringing an asset to the platform."

MYRE Capital is another tech-enabled platform that offers fractional investment opportunity to its customers to acquire Grade A+ asset with a blue chip tenant. Mumbai-based hBits is also a similar platform for fractional ownership of premium pre-leased commercial real estate assets with low ticket sizes and personalised services.

There are even options to invest in serviced apartments across major cities in India. Jhashank Roy Chowdary, Promoter of G&C Global Consortium Pvt Ltd, said: "Investors can avail regular rental income after buying individual units in serviced apartment towers across Hyderabad, Tirupati, Shiridi and Kolkata. Delhi-based Starlit Suites is the operator of these apartments."

Virtual property shows have become a common affair these days with the rise in number of commercial real estate portals. The online platforms provide better virtual experience of the spaces to potential buyers at the comfort of their homes. This technology attracts the investors, particularly among the non-resident Indians (NRIs) and high networth individuals (HNIs).

Moreover, cloud computing and blockchain technology have also changed the way of buying and selling properties. While cloud computing has influenced the listing of commercial and residential properties online, blockchain allows to digitise the ledger of property transactions across the entire network of computer systems.

During this pandemic era, the builders of residential properties are promoting their ventures as smart and sustainable projects. Amid work-from-home situation, there is a growing demand for smart living concepts. Global IoT firm Hogar Controls Inc has recently rolled out smart touch panel series as a part of holistic smart home solutions.

The connected home is becoming a reality, with people embracing technology to the core in day-to-day life. Vishnu Reddy, CEO of Hogar Controls, said: "Smart technology is bringing a whole new meaning to the term smart homes. As consumers' reliance on technology is increasing than ever, there is a strong and growing demand for connected home devices."

As the impact of the IoT is already evident in every consumer's home, Hogar Controls intends to redefine connected living with one of its offerings. The product imbibes futuristic technology to turn ordinary lights, fans, and appliances into smart fittings, this transforming a traditional home into a smart home.