Informist, Wednesday, Sep 14, 2022
By Janaki Krishnan
MUMBAI – The real estate sector has always been one of the more opaque ones in the country. Until the Real Estate and Regulatory Authority was set up and the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act was passed in 2016, homebuyers couldn't even be sure if their purchase would be delivered on time. And, delays wouldn't even come with an intimation by the developer.
While the Real Estate and Regulatory Authority brought about standardisation of rules and an element of transparency in project timelines, one area remains as opaque as ever – pricing.
Prices quoted by builders usually serve only as a starting point for negotiations between a buyer and a salesperson. In other words, there is no way one can ascertain whether a home buyer is getting a fair deal or not.
A similar situation prevails in the rental market – both sides usually take the help of brokers to set the price.
WINDS OF CHANGE
As is often the case, technology has come to the aid of consumers. Government registration data, now available in digital form, come with the actual details of the price or rate at which a property has been transacted, and technology-driven property firms, or proptech firms, are taking this data and empowering buyers and renters with price-related insights.
These firms are changing the real estate landscape. Customers can now find out the exact market value of a property. This is giving them bargaining power and allowing them to take decisions without the help of brokers, who usually quote higher prices as the brokerage depends on the transaction price.
INDEXTAP.COM
Launched about a year back. Indextap.com covers property transactions in the key markets of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur. While the focus is on housing transactions, it also covers the commercial segment.
Indextap.com, part of data analytics and intelligence platform CRE Matrix, makes the data available on the web and a mobile app.
"Our biggest USP is providing authentic, accurate data to the gullible home buyer," says Abhishek Kiran Gupta, chief executive officer and co-founder of CRE Matrix.
Gupta says the idea was to put more and authentic information in the hands of homebuyers to give them an idea about the current market price in the locality or housing society where they seek to buy property. This gives them a benchmark or a base on which they can negotiate with builders.
The same holds true when renting property. Gupta says that with rent prices in a particular area available on IndexTap.com, customers will have a better idea how to negotiate.
Upon signing up for the first time, users get 10 credits free, which allows them free views of around 20 transactions a day, after which they must subscribe. Subscriptions range from 299 rupees to 3,499 rupees with lifetime validity.
Gupta says the platform gives a summary of the transaction without too many details to protect the privacy of the parties involved.
Currently, the platform has about 8,000 subscribers on its mobile app, about half of whom are paying customers. Most of the customers have opted for the 599-rupee plan.
ZAPKEY
Zapkey, the data partner for data analytics and real estate intelligence platform Propstack, also allows 20 free views on signing up, but has two noteworthy features that set it apart – it commits that if a seller is not able to sell her property through the Zapkey platform in three months, the company will make an offer to buy it.
Also, registration details and agreement copies of transactions on sales and leases are made available for a fee.
Co-founder Sandeep Reddy says that while the intent was to democratise information on real estate transactions and empower citizens, providing data free could lead to misuse; it could be scraped and sold to marketers or used for other purposes.
The platform also provides information on transactions from cities outside Maharashtra, such as Bengaluru, Noida, Delhi, and Hyderabad.
Cumulatively, Zapkey has seen over 8 mln transactions since it started providing data about a year ago.
SQUARE YARDS
The third proptech platform that provides data intelligence on property transactions is Square Yards, primarily a property broking site that offers transactional information as an add-on.
Being a broking platform, it has wider access and offers customers information on transactions – both sales as well as leases – across 11 cities in India. According to the company's website, it has over 8.6 mln transaction records with over 140,000 projects covered.
For individuals, the firm shows only the document number, floor number, unit number, area and value, and no names are disclosed to protect privacy. For institutions, however, it shows the names of the parties involved. The platform does not charge any fee for the data, but registration on the site is essential. This suggests that the functionality may be used to generate leads.
Notwithstanding the huge benefits offered by proptech platforms, one limitation is that in case of resale transactions, it is difficult to gauge the actual market value of properties. This is because most people prefer a part of the consideration to paid in 'black' to lower the stamp duty outgo, while the seller benefits through lower capital gains. End
Edited by Avishek Dutta
For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.
Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.
Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000
Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com
© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2022. All rights reserved.
Informist, Wednesday, Sep 14, 2022
By Janaki Krishnan
MUMBAI – The real estate sector has always been one of the more opaque ones in the country. Until the Real Estate and Regulatory Authority was set up and the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act was passed in 2016, homebuyers couldn't even be sure if their purchase would be delivered on time. And, delays wouldn't even come with an intimation by the developer.
While the Real Estate and Regulatory Authority brought about standardisation of rules and an element of transparency in project timelines, one area remains as opaque as ever – pricing.
Prices quoted by builders usually serve only as a starting point for negotiations between a buyer and a salesperson. In other words, there is no way one can ascertain whether a home buyer is getting a fair deal or not.
A similar situation prevails in the rental market – both sides usually take the help of brokers to set the price.
WINDS OF CHANGE
As is often the case, technology has come to the aid of consumers. Government registration data, now available in digital form, come with the actual details of the price or rate at which a property has been transacted, and technology-driven property firms, or proptech firms, are taking this data and empowering buyers and renters with price-related insights.
These firms are changing the real estate landscape. Customers can now find out the exact market value of a property. This is giving them bargaining power and allowing them to take decisions without the help of brokers, who usually quote higher prices as the brokerage depends on the transaction price.
INDEXTAP.COM
Launched about a year back. Indextap.com covers property transactions in the key markets of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur. While the focus is on housing transactions, it also covers the commercial segment.
Indextap.com, part of data analytics and intelligence platform CRE Matrix, makes the data available on the web and a mobile app.
"Our biggest USP is providing authentic, accurate data to the gullible home buyer," says Abhishek Kiran Gupta, chief executive officer and co-founder of CRE Matrix.
Gupta says the idea was to put more and authentic information in the hands of homebuyers to give them an idea about the current market price in the locality or housing society where they seek to buy property. This gives them a benchmark or a base on which they can negotiate with builders.
The same holds true when renting property. Gupta says that with rent prices in a particular area available on IndexTap.com, customers will have a better idea how to negotiate.
Upon signing up for the first time, users get 10 credits free, which allows them free views of around 20 transactions a day, after which they must subscribe. Subscriptions range from 299 rupees to 3,499 rupees with lifetime validity.
Gupta says the platform gives a summary of the transaction without too many details to protect the privacy of the parties involved.
Currently, the platform has about 8,000 subscribers on its mobile app, about half of whom are paying customers. Most of the customers have opted for the 599-rupee plan.
ZAPKEY
Zapkey, the data partner for data analytics and real estate intelligence platform Propstack, also allows 20 free views on signing up, but has two noteworthy features that set it apart – it commits that if a seller is not able to sell her property through the Zapkey platform in three months, the company will make an offer to buy it.
Also, registration details and agreement copies of transactions on sales and leases are made available for a fee.
Co-founder Sandeep Reddy says that while the intent was to democratise information on real estate transactions and empower citizens, providing data free could lead to misuse; it could be scraped and sold to marketers or used for other purposes.
The platform also provides information on transactions from cities outside Maharashtra, such as Bengaluru, Noida, Delhi, and Hyderabad.
Cumulatively, Zapkey has seen over 8 mln transactions since it started providing data about a year ago.
SQUARE YARDS
The third proptech platform that provides data intelligence on property transactions is Square Yards, primarily a property broking site that offers transactional information as an add-on.
Being a broking platform, it has wider access and offers customers information on transactions – both sales as well as leases – across 11 cities in India. According to the company's website, it has over 8.6 mln transaction records with over 140,000 projects covered.
For individuals, the firm shows only the document number, floor number, unit number, area and value, and no names are disclosed to protect privacy. For institutions, however, it shows the names of the parties involved. The platform does not charge any fee for the data, but registration on the site is essential. This suggests that the functionality may be used to generate leads.
Notwithstanding the huge benefits offered by proptech platforms, one limitation is that in case of resale transactions, it is difficult to gauge the actual market value of properties. This is because most people prefer a part of the consideration to paid in 'black' to lower the stamp duty outgo, while the seller benefits through lower capital gains. End
Edited by Avishek Dutta
For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.
Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.
Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000
Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com
© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2022. All rights reserved.
