Embracing Innovation: The Future of Real Estate Investments in India

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Innovation is at the centre of transformation for any organisation or industry. And the emergence of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence has re-defined innovation, thereby democratizing access to products, services or benefits for all. For instance, with the emergence of ‘proptech’, there has been multilayer innovation in the different services in real estate. Starting from simple services such as buy and sell, to complex fixed income products to AIFs; the digitization wave has created a massive shift in the perception of real estate ownership and investment. India and Proptech revolution The role of digitization is vital in any industry, and digital technologies have been constantly changing the transactional pattern since last few years. With the pandemic disrupting all industries, the real estate sector also witnessed a massive boom of digitization with the rise of new-age prop-tech platforms offering a stringent resilience and convenience to the industry. Pioneered by the online property listing for buying or selling, renting or leasing properties to offering alternative investment opportunities and access to the earlier restrictive avenues like commercial real estate, the industry has seen a major shift. With the advent of avenues such as fractional ownership of real estate, REITs, etc. have changed the real estate investment dynamics for good. Indian CRE and the rising democratization Introduction of fractional ownership and REITs has enabled a wider access to promising and earlier exclusive domain of commercial properties for retail investors. Factors like open access, significant reduction in the ticket size, convenient digitized process, hassle free journey, etc. have created a massive opportunity and positive investment sentiment in the sector. It has also considerably widened the investment horizon of the segment creating more liquidating options for the developers and asset owners. With the leading global giants such as Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google, and other global brands setting up their major bases in India, this has catalysed the demand for the commercial properties in the country. Also, the rising startup wave across sectors has created a huge demand for the need of state-of-the-art CRE in the country. Innovation trends that will channelize the industry to be future ready Internet of Things (IoT) – Despite the delayed adoption and slow expansion, real estate industry has been actively working towards creating new use cases of leveraging IoT to solve different consumer problems. From creating automated tasks for real estate agents to streamlining services like property buying, selling as well as enabling the ongoing management of the property. The quicker adoption of this technology in the domain will boost productivity by minimizing error, improve product and service quality, reduce product and operational costs, etc.

3D printing technology for infrastructure development – 3D printing in construction is a relatively new technology that replaces some manual work in construction with a machine that creates and assembles structures. Making the process quicker, cost effective, safer and error free this is definitely going to disrupt the future of the construction world. Additionally, it will also help developers envisage the workflow streamlining and build client satisfaction. Demographic data led predictive analysis – Usage of deep tech like Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analysis will significantly aid in receiving insightful information about the demographic nature, geographical situation and the overall landscape helping the investors as well as developers making informed decisions and ensure business and investment growth. Emergence of green buildings/ESG compliant premises – With the growing conscious of global warming and greater governmental emphasis on building sustainable and ESG compliant properties, next few years are expected to create myriad of opportunities for investors to invest into such properties. Contributing to more than 39% of global carbon emission, the construction world has definitely realised the potential of creating sustainable built ecosystem The commercial real estate segment has evolved over the years to become a democratized and open asset class. With the increasing demand for the infrastructure and rising participation from the retail investment cohort, CRE investment is sure to witness a significant growth in the near future.

The author is Co-founder and CEO, Strata. Views are personal.