Housing.com to Launch Dedicated Commercial Property Vertical and Plans to Become Mortage Originator

REA India-owned real estate portal Housing.com has launched a commercial real estate listing service that will focus on grade B properties in India's top eight cities.

Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, stated in an interview with Business Line that the new vertical is expected to make a significant contribution to the company's total business over the next five years. The platform will offer grade B properties such as strata sales, floors, and retail establishments and currently has 100,000 commercial listings.

Grade B properties are typically of basic design and offer limited amenities compared to Grade A commercial properties such as large malls and high rises.

The move comes as REA reported a strong performance in the Indian market, with revenues for the first half of FY23 increasing by 48% year-on-year to $36 million.

The size of India's commercial real estate market is estimated at $20.71 billion in the current year and is anticipated to register a CAGR of over 21% during the forecast period, according to a report. Agarwala noted that the potential for the new vertical is exciting with commercial real estate in the country doing well and set to continue to grow as GDP increases and the economy matures.

REA India also intends to join the ranks of portals around the world that have launched a mortgage vertical. According to Agarwala, the plan is to shift Housing.com from being a lead generation platform to one that actually originates the mortgage.

“We have a common customer base for residential and commercial verticals and believe that we can leverage our existing customer base and consumer base to launch the mortgage business.”