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Five years back, Anuj Puri launched Anarock Property Consultants in keeping with the changes in Indian real estate scenario after the introduction of RERA in 2016. It opened doors for professional and organized firms, to foray in the sector and bridge the gap between the developer and the end-customer, with trust and transparency.
HOW HAS BEEN THE ANAROCK JOURNEY SINCE ITS INCEPTION?
Initially, developers had apprehensions given the lack of ethics and transparency in the industry. It was largely Grade B developers that we on-boarded as clients. However with the company’s strong footing on the four pillars of ethics, integrity, trust and transparency, we started gaining interest from Grade A developers as well. The real boost came in 2020 with the onset of the pandemic as large developers outsourced their specific projects to Anarock.
Additionally, as the current homebuyers are millennial, we went big on digital and have invested nearly 150 Crores on our tech platform. It is a proprietary tech with inbuilt mechanism of preventing any data theft or leakage. The unique aspect of this in-house technology platform is that it has been scaled up for multiple geographies.
During the pandemic, Anarock investment platform saw many developers approaching us for getting debt as gaining equity was not possible at that time. We completed a lot of deals on capital markets that came to us on debt. Come September 2020, the entire discussion changed to equity investments. The pandemic had slowed down and especially the foreign investors were confident of the India’s economic recovery in a short time. We also turned from debt towards equity investments. From 2021 onwards Anarock also started implementing large land transactions as big developers began planning new projects and buying land. The dialogue had now shifted from what was once debt requirement to equity investment and now land buying.
WHAT WAS THE STRATEGY BEHIND ACQUISITIONS IN VARIOUS SERVICE VERTICALS?
We consider all hooks for real estate firms, starting from land acquisition, funding, project consulting & evaluation, project management and so on. To fulfil these needs we have tied up with the best in the industry such as MACE, London for project management, ApnaComplex for society management, MyHQ to provide hyperlocal co-working spaces, space solutions and so on.. We are also working on a home exchange platform where one can exchange old home with a new home like Cars24 app. Our strategy has been to integrate all verticals and give client whatever he needs from Anarock pool of services.
WHAT WERE THE MAJOR CHANGES SEEN IN RESIDENTIAL REALTY MARKET MARKET?
In 2017, the Indian realty market transformed on account of RERA and Demonetization. Moreover, we estimated that the sector will soon hit the up cycle having reached the bottom end of down cycle in past few years. However, the down cycle extended for another two years and we saw the actual rise of real estate market in 2020.
The residential sector has also gone through a lot of consolidation and maturing. I would compare it to1995 when I started Chesterton Meghraj and the commercial real estate went through a similar transformation and became an organized segment. The exclusive mandate route became a norm in office property selling. We are now seeing the preference for similar exclusive mandate rather than open listing in residential real estate.
Another transformation has been of homebuyer’s getting younger. Buyers investing in property today are in their late 20’s, they are tech savvy and prefer digital mode of communication and transaction.
WHAT'S YOUR OUTLOOK FOR THE INDUSTRY, THE POSITIVES AND THE NEGATIVES?
The two biggest roadblocks for the industry currently are the supply chain disruption and high construction material costs. But hopefully these should be short term negative impacts of the Russia Ukraine war. If the inflation persists that will be a worrisome scenario. The developers do not have the margins to absorb price rise and the buyers do not have the financial bandwidth to afford costly property.
There are a lot of positives to look forward. The real estate sector is definitely becoming a very mature industry. Good quality builders and corporate are entering the sector. The projects are now being launched only after thorough market research and feasibility study. The rise of technology, regulatory framework and professionalism are the sure signs of the arrival of this industry.
THE VISION FOR ANAROCK FOR NEXT 5 YEARS
We would continue to focus on customer experience, continue to grow geographically and further expand our service portfolio to industrial, warehousing and data centres. I believe there is a lot of talent in Prop-tech segment, but the start-ups are struggling on three counts - not able to scale up due to lack of industry connect, lack of investment or the promoter has got wary because the firm is not progressing. So, we will be investing in those start-ups where the product is very good but due to various reasons, the company is struggling. Finally, in next five years the plan is to take the company public and announce an IPO. Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Group
