Post RERA, brokers may focus on rental market: Survey

Mumbai: With the number of residential project launches falling on the back of the implementation of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) from May 1, brokers are planning to focus on rental market to get more business, a recent survey said.

According to a survey conducted by online property platform Commonfloor across six metros including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, NCR and the Mumbai metropolitan region, nearly 47 per cent of the respondents plan to focus on the rental market to get more business.

"RERA is going to have a positive impact on the property market and will grow exponentially upon the exit of unscrupulous builders and brokerage firms. However, due to the slowdown in new project launches, brokers want to focus on the rental market," the survey said.

Further, the brokers are also now planning to shift their business focus from new project launches to closure of deals of resale properties.

"With stringent rules being implemented under RERA, 42 per cent brokers are now planning to shift their business focus from new project launches to closure of deals of resale properties," it said.

However, 39 percent of the respondents hold a strong opinion of not changing their business focus and will continue dealing with new project launches, the report noted.

In India, the broker sector plays an important role in real estate transactions and is estimated to be a Rs 25,600 crore industry, with around 5-9 lakh brokers, it said.

According to the survey, nearly 84 percent of the brokers opined that implementation of RERA will have increased benefits to the homebuyers.

"RERA brings in clarity and fair practices that would protect the interests of buyers and also impose penalties on errant builders, hence making the real estate sector organised, transparent and consumer centric," it said.

As per the survey, nearly 73 per cent of the participants who took part in the survey, consider that the successful implementation of RERA will result in timely delivery of the projects.