New Delhi, Jun 18 () Real estate technology companies that are used to being overlooked from investors may see their fortunes turn after the COVID-19 pandemic, as the industry embraces proptech to improve the way property is bought, sold or rented, according to Housing.com CEO Dhruv Agarwala.
Addressing a webinar organised by media company Entrepreneur on Thursday, Agarwala, who is also the CEO of PropTiger and Makaan.com, said the pace of adoption of digital technologies has accelerated after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease and the subsequent nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25.
He said that going forward, there would be increased adoption of technologies across the value chain, right from designing to construction to sales and marketing, and property management.
In each of these areas, there could be significant opportunities for capital infusion by both domestic and foreign investors, he added.
Agarwala pointed out that proptech players have not been able to raise funds like technology players in other sectors such as e-commerce and food because of the inherent problems in the real estate sector.
The sector has been reeling under the multi-year demand slowdown on account of demonetisation and disruptions caused by the goods and services tax (GST) and realty law RERA, he said.
However, he said, "It's just a matter of time, when we can see significant inflows of capital in proptech".
"In the next five years, we can expect a large sum of capital being infused in proptech companies," Agarwala said but refrained from giving any number.
He expected the process of searching and shortlisting of properties to largely shift on digital platforms, both for renting and buying.
"People will still visit one or two shortlisted properties before eventually deciding to buy," he said.
On housing prices, Agarwala said the price reduction would not be across the board.
He said the builders who have stressed balance sheets would like to clear their inventories by cutting rates or giving discounts.
However, the real estate developers with strong balance sheets and huge cash reserves would not reduce price.
Citing a survey report done by Housing.com, Agarwala said the potential homebuyers have deferred their plan to purchase properties by 0-12 months and only a small percentage (19 per cent) of respondents have put the plan on hold permanently.
Singapore-based Elara Technologies, which owns the three realty platforms Housing.com, Makaan.com and PropTiger, has raised USD 175 million so far from investors.
Among other players, NoBroker.com has raised over USD 150 million and Square Yards around USD 75 million. MJH HRS
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