Magicbricks.com is India’s No.1 property site and is owned by Magicbricks Realty Services Limited (MBRSL) which is a subsidiary of Times Internet Limited. With monthly traffic exceeding 12 million visits and with an active base of over 8 lakh+ property listings, Magicbricks provides the largest platform for buyers and sellers of property to connect with each other in a clear, transparent manner. With this in mind, Magicbricks has innovated several product features, content and research services, which have helped Magicbricks build the largest audience pool. As the Chief Executive Officer of Magicbricks.com, Mr. Sudhir Pai spoke about the competition in digital space for Real Estate sector, the trends which will define the industry and the future of Digital media with respect to Real Estate.
75% of real estate inventory is now online
- Team Estrade: How do you see the future of digital players in Real Estate Sector of India?
Sudhir Pai: The internet is influencing consumer behavior as 7 out of 10 buyers know the exact brand and model they want to buy with the help of online research. Online influences more than 70% of all purchase decisions in residential real estate. Moving forward we will see a thrust in the influence by the online channel. Moreover, 75% of the real estate inventory in now available online. As the buying and selling dimensions move online, monetization of online will follow.
In the current scenario, drivers for online transactions are convenience, choice and discoverability. The future of online realty players looks upbeat, as over the last two years we have seen great traction amongst buyers willing to make purchases online for their dream homes. The success of our recently concluded online homes festivals like Dream Homes Festival and Great Online House Festival reiterate that Internet can unlock the value by overcoming the inefficiencies in the offline model and offering rich, meaningful and immersive experience to real estate buyers on the Internet.
- Team Estrade: With so much competition in the digital and TV media space in the Real estate sector, what are the unique advantages of Magic Bricks Now?
Sudhir Pai: Our endeavour has always been to make our brand ubiquitous across media so as to provide consumers with rich and in-depth information when it comes to matters of property. With this association we leverage the visual appeal of television to communicate our rich data and analytics in an easy-to-consume manner for the consumer. With this launch, we strengthen the offering and make ourselves available at every touch point to consumers.
- Team Estrade: Which category of your business is doing well? (Website or App)
Sudhir Pai: Both Website and App have a different role to play. While the overall traffic is higher on the website, but in terms of user engagement, app does better on metrics like page views, repeat user, contacts etc
“Smart city development initiative will also overhaul TIER II cities, increasing their capacity to house much more of the population, reducing pressure on the TIER I cities”
- Team Estrade: REIT vs. FDI – which is better for Real Estate players in India? Which will dominate for Real estate and infra development of India?
Sudhir Pai: FDI limit increase is expected to bring in cheap foreign capital in the country, along with extensive management control and experience from world over, which will support the current family managed developer firms. Similarly, the RIET is expected to regulate the sector, constrain and quantify the risk and return for the investors in the sector, and make Indian Real estate into an attractive asset for global investors.
- Team Estrade: In the next 2 years, which two trends do you feel will define the industry? Or will be critical for the health of Real Estate Sector in India?
Sudhir Pai: Introduction of ‘National Urban Rental Housing Policy’ by Ministry of Housing, and Urban Poverty Alleviation, under the ‘Housing for all by 2022’ initiative, is expected to bring in a structure for housing millions of lower income Indian families, and curb unauthorized construction in cities, freeing prime spaces.
Smart city development initiative will also overhaul TIER II cities, increasing their capacity to house much more of the population, reducing pressure on the TIER I cities.
- Team Estrade: How has the business been for your company over the last fiscal? How are your projections looking for next fiscal? Are you expecting any major changes? Is the market in for a surprise?
We’re scaling up aggressively. Traffic on our site has expanded and crossed 1 crore visits per month recently. Listings have exceeded 12Lacs+ and continue to grow. We’ve grown our sales presence to 44 cities and we shall soon be in 50 cities nationally. We’re upbeat about the prospects of Online real estate and are well poised to further expand our leadership position in the category.
75% of real estate inventory is now online
