Dream home a virtual realty at Rs 1cr and more : The Times of India

Mumbai:
Tata Housing Sells Luxury Property For `5.5Cr, India's Biggest Online Transaction
Buying online has moved beyond discounted transactions

on apparel and appliances to multi-crore transactions in real estate. A Mumbai resident recently booked a 4 BHK apartment at The Promont, Bangalore with Tata Housing online for Rs 4.5 crore. The company sold another luxury unit in its project called Myst in Kasauli to an NRI customer for Rs 5.5 crore online, making it India's largest transaction in the online space. Similarly , e-commerce major Snapdeal sold a Tata Housing unit for Rs 1.1 crore early this month within hours of commencing the sale. Snapdeal later claimed that this was its highest online transaction and the company sees an increasing trend of frequent such transactions for premium apartments upwards of a crore on its site.

Asenior Tata Housing official told TOI, “The Rs 5.5-crore transaction is the highest ever in the Indian online space. We have tied up with Snapdeal .com and Housing.com to sell our premium and value housing units. Tata Housing has sold over 1,500 units online, accounting for 25% of Rs 1,100crore sales and expects that online sales will account for over 40% of revenues in the coming years with the tremendous growth of e-commerce.“

It's small wonder then that other realty players like DLF, Sobha Developers, Godrej Properties, Mantri Developers and Purvankara are following suit to tie up with e-tailers to tap part of the $45-billion organized property market that ac counts for only 10% of the overall unorganized sector.

“The process of closing the deal was easy once a decision was taken to go along with The Promont project,“ said the Mumbai resident who bought the Rs 4.5-crore unit in Bangalore.

In a recently held property carnival, Snapdeal received over 1,800 enquiries, highlighting the growing demand for properties online. There is an increasing trend of frequent transactions for premium apartments on Snapdeal which are upwards of a crore, a Snapdeal statement said earlier this month.

Magicbricks CEO Sudhir Pai told TOI, “From being perceived as a lead gen engine, online is now seen to be a medium where consumers are increasingly making choices on what to buy and at what price. While fulfillment is still less, online is making a definitive impact right across the buying cycle of a home seeker.“

What's helping buyers make informed decisions online is 3D images of the property with Google maps to check out the neighbourhood. “We take our consum ers through a virtual walkthrough of our apartments.Besides, we offer premium properties online that are not available offline to get the customer's attention,“ said a Tata Housing spokesperson.

Sensing an opportunity , Snapdeal is exploring alliances for providing options of site visit facility and documentation service -in short, end-toend support in the buying process along with a “good price“. With 400% growth in the real estate category in the last 6 months, Snapdeal plans to reach out to NRI customers willing to invest in India.

“Since the launch of the real estate category , we have focused on forging alliances with some of the most trusted names in the real estate industry to provide a range of housing options for our ever-expanding customer base in a hassle-free and trusted manner,“ said Amit Maheshwari, VP , fashion, FMCG and real estate, Snapdeal.

99acres.com plans to bring India's first flash sale of homes later this month offering projects between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 20 crore in cities like Mumbai, DelhiNCR, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai.