Realty developers to advertise and close the housing deals via digital platforms.

Realty developers are now advertising their latest releases through digital platforms, as the Covid-19 outbreak and the predicted reduced amount of visits of homebuyers at their sales offices provide no relief.

Several major developers such as Godrej Properties, Total Environment Building Systems, and Prestige Group have introduced digital site tours, confirmations and verifications from email documents, and also features that contribute to the closing of deals online.

“Many brokers are closing deals via video conferencing and WhatsApp tours since clients are hesitant to come out; however, we have to invest before March 31. We closed a couple of deals on Sunday,” said Bhavesh Kothari, CEO, Property First, a real estate broking firm based in Bengaluru.

Many developers are sceptical and have their reservations around the launch of new projects considering the current situation. New project launches are expected to dip this festive season; however, there will be a few exceptions like the projects which are already in the soft-launch stage and have already undergone a fair amount of marketing spend.

Although the government’s advisory to discourage social events would affect site visits and housing transactions, these kinds of digital releases would raise the confidence of developers and help revive the real estate market with lower home loan rates and lower stamp duty in some states.