Transaction volumes in real estate are picking up this season in major Indian cities. The surge in sentiments is also backed by a significant rise in transparency in the industry and continuity in government policies. This is evident from the perk in demand for fully furnished luxurious flats for sale in Goa.

As the realty market continues to consolidate, the transaction space will also evolve rapidly. In a market that is highly unorganized and run by brokers, the future of Indian Real Estate transaction space will be underpinned on the growth and evolution of the O2O that is, online-to-online model, popularized by the ICPs. As the Indian Real Estate market is recalibrating under the influence of mass level policy changes, the market is going to further consolidate with ICPs playing a larger role.

Often called Institutional Channel Partners (ICP), these advisories control about 10 per cent of the transaction space at present in major cities. This will grow further, as there is a pressing need for unbiased and value-added advisory in the realty space. Interestingly, the growth will emanate from both tier-I and tier-II cities.

ICPs are also investing in disruptive technologies such as Big Data & Machine learning. The real estate search-diligence-transact journey that buyers take is non-linear, with multiple online to offline transitions. Also, the information needs of the consumer change depending on which stage of the transaction journey they are on. Figuring this out contextually and delivering a seamless, device-agnostic experience to the buyer across the online-offline platforms is what the new-age real estate transaction space is all about. It is equipped to build and drive engagement by providing a context relevant experience to buyers through virtual visualization tools, natural language processing and data analysis on real estate transactions.

In the future, there will be extensive use of artificial intelligence (AI) for automation of backend validation processes and in user-facing processes. For better user experience, ICPs will employ AI to provide intuitive search experience eliminating the need for filters and deliver the best-customized results instantly.

ICPs have started making notable revenue and expanded rapidly. By deploying the large sales force, they have successfully solved pressing challenges in the transaction space- to close deals and help discerning buyers find their homes. ICPs have coherently adopted backward and forward integration to deepen their foothold across the value chain. After building a firm ground in the Indian markets, they have successfully entered the NRI space and tapped it successfully.

On the forward front, ICPs have developed powerful CRM to ensure that the relationship does not only end at property closure. The CRM ensures that the home buyers are handheld throughout the value chain without facing any hassle. What’s more, ICPs won’t swindle happy homebuyers and only earn commissions from the developers.

Going forward, technologies will be a key disruptor in the USD 3 billion worth organized residential real estate space. More investments will follow into other ancillary services such as home loan disbursal, strategic advisory, integrated marketing etc. There will be continued investments in building technology and the launch of speech-based search. It is just a matter of time before speech-based search becomes mainstream and real estate transaction space gets increasingly refined for a much better user and buyer experience.