New age apartments: Builders must use digital technologies to make houses safer post coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic will breed a new host of customer key performance indicators (KPIs) as customers are likely to demand more safety and security.

While India’s real estate industry continues on a downtrend, the sector may emerge from the distress if builders take advantage of changes in consumer behaviour amid the pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic will breed a new host of customer key performance indicators (KPIs) as customers are likely to demand more safety and security, a report said. “Developers that demonstrate thoughtfully redesigned infrastructure upgrades, such as touchless surfaces, digitally enabled entry and exit, resident and guest management systems, smart homes and smart club houses, will attract buyer attention and provide differentiated value,” a report by Bain & Company on ‘Residential Real Estate in India’, said. Developers can also look into adopting other changes to lead the real estate market.

Stating that adoption of technology will also play a key role in residential real estate sales going ahead, the report said that the builders who start building digital sales channels such as virtual house tours and online customer booking will benefit. “Technology can help developers to enhance efficiency with time, cost and quality across the value chain, especially in designing, planning, budgeting and executing on-site projects,” the report added.

Game changing technology

There are select digital interventions which could prove to be game changers for realty developers. BIM is one such technology. Building information modeling (BIM) uses a standardised machine-readable information model and it improves planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of a facility. The software also includes ready made layouts, design drawings and accurate quantity measurements, the report said, adding that adoption of such technologies will help developers to safely manage the way in which people use space and utilities in their homes and common spaces.

Real estate distress EXPLAINED

The real estate sector has been facing headwinds for sometime now. Significant challenges and uncertainty such as a government-backed overhaul of its regulatory framework and taxation through the Real Estate Regulatory Authority Act (RERA), Goods and Services Tax Act (GST), PM Modi’s Demonetisation and Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act (BTPA have played a key role in shaping the sector over a course of over five years.

The ongoing crisis in the NBFC sector has been a further deterrent to the real sector as demand fell amid liquidity crunch. Coronavirus has not helped either and has posed as a further impediment to an already muted demand. The situation is likely to persist until economic stability is achieved and supply chains are restored.