Indian real estate websites taking detour

By Benny Thomas   |   Friday, 15 May 2009, 21:27 IST
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Indian real estate websites taking detour
Bangalore: Websites that were primarily focusing on real estate have diversified their services to sustain during the slowdown. Looking for options, portals like 100nests, IndiaPropertyBase and Makaan have started thinking out-of-the-box, to attract more customers. Startups like 100nests has also tied-up with big players in the internet space like Rediff, Sulekha and Indiatimes, to provide exclusive services to their customers. Shreyans Chopra, CEO, Suksh, unveiled his new portal after he realized that focusing only on real estate may not be a wise decision in the present market scenario. "Our primary focus was on real estate, though the enquiries were high, transactions had declined, hence we had to take a different approach," says Chopra. Last year, Suksh had launched 100floors.com and the current market conditions persuaded them to launch 100nests.com in April this year. According to Chopra, 100nests consists of three main components, data, home service providers and communication. By using the portal, a customer can find home service providers in their locality and can seek assistance on valuation of the house. The portal also offers a networking service wherein the customers can have online communications with their neighbors. Maintaining that the advertising revenues have plunged over the months, Chopra feels that the impact has been less, because of their new strategy. The present downturn in the real estate market has given rise to another new entrant in April this year. IndiaPropertyBase.com was launched by Consim, the same company that manages the property portal, IndiaProperty.com. "The market scenario was bad, hence we decided to supplement IndiaProperty with a new website," says Murugavel Janakiraman, CEO, Consim. IndiaPropertyBase is a directory of builders with their company information and track record. In addition, the website also features interviews with the builders to give more clarity to the customer. The Gurgaon-based Makaan.com has also started looking for options to maintain a steady revenue flow. They have an additional feature wherein the customer can request for a property as per their requirements. Makaan also hosts property shows in major cities to stay ahead of their competitors. "Most of our revenue is generated from advertisements, while the property shows also contribute to it," says Aditya Verma, Business Head, Makaan. As internet is a cost effective medium for advertising, these companies are bullish about the future. "Nowadays, even larger players prefer online advertising over other media, as it is cheaper, hence we are ramping up our workforce," says Verma. According to Chopra, their company is also open to advertising from all sectors, to cash in on the demand. Though, the overall picture looks gloomy for the real estate market, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. According to a survey conducted by Makaan.com there has been an increase of 19 percent in the number of property seekers in April compared with the number between October and January. "We strongly hope that the market will stabilize in another three months," says Verma. The company is on a hiring spree to meet the future demand. "After the new government is formed, things might improve, we also hope that they would bring down the in home loan rates," adds Verma.

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