While many homebuyers are conducting their property purchases through virtual platforms, the PropTech industry in India attracted over $551 million in 2020. It surpassed the aggregate of previous year – $549 million, according to a report by leading online real estate portal Housing.com.
The report titled ‘PropTech: The Future of Real Estate in India’ by the Elara Group-owned online real estate advisory portal shows that investments in the PropTech segment grew marginally up to $551 million in 2020 from $549 million in 2019. Investments in the segment during the year were at their peak in 2020 since tech-based start-up companies began entering the real estate segment in India. So far, $2.4 billion have been invested in India’s PropTech industry across 225 deals as on date, the report says.The reportrevealed that a majority of business are still conducted through the offline mode in the property brokerage business, estimated to be a $1,400-million ($1.4 billion) industry.
The growth of PropTech in India is also indicated through the fact that even with the actual transaction culminating offline, over 50% of the real estate buying decisions take place through online searches, the report says.The report also points out that virtual property purchases are becoming more popular in the country. In the online survey, which was conducted with respondents from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune, 60% participants say they are willing to use digital platforms for exploring options to buy or rent homes.In a pan-India survey, 37% respondents said they were willing to close the deal completely online after one site visit. On the other hand, 47% respondents say they will be open to doing so after multiple site visits.
