Cashing in on slowdown? Steve Waugh enters Indian realty with platform for NRIs

Aussie cricket star Steve Waugh is preparing for one more tour of India - this time in the premium real estate. The criketer has set up a real estate portal that functions as a platform for NRIs and PIOs who are looking to buy property in India. The website, waughglobal.com, says that the venture is a result of the committment Waugh made to himself that “he wanted to play a shaping role in India’s growth story over the next 10 years”. [caption id=“attachment_1762601” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Steve Waugh. Getty Images[/caption] A report in The Economic Times notes that this is the first such platform that caters to the NRI market. The company provides various services such as property management and rental, land advisory and bank finance. It seeks to derive revenue from flat sales. “There is traction in the online space with companies focusing on consumers with listings. We introduced this portal as the Indian diaspora across the globe is on the rise. There is also a latent demand from buyers. Our aim is to focus on the NRI investment experience through the online medium,” Waugh, founder and chairman of the company has been quoted as saying in a report in the Hindu BusinessLine. Ever since Tata Housing first took the plunge to sell flats online in the Google Online Shopping Festival in 2013, online sales of real estate has been on the risen. In July 2015, a Rs 6 crore penthouse in Bangalore was sold online on Snapdeal. Tata Housing had in July 2015 held an online property exhibition. Waugh’s entry into the Indian realty comes at a time when the sector as a whole is going through a slowdown in demand and inventories are piling up. This is likely to woo more NRIs to invest in Indian realty as they can find good bargains at the time of slowdown. According to JLL, a property consultancy, the National Capital Region has the highest number of unsold flats at nearly 180,000, followed by more than 84,000 in Bangalore and about 80,000 in Mumbai. Reports had earlier suggested that the real estate prices in the country are likely to crash about 50 percent due to the unsold stock and the curbs imposed on black money. Waugh seems to be eyeing an opportunity in this.