Will Real Estate Have A Metaverse Future In India?

In Columbia, South Carolina, the US, a non-fungible token (NFT) of a real-world house was sold for $175,000 over the weekend. The recently-rebuilt house has three bedrooms, a walkout terrace, a galley-style kitchen, and a huge living and dining area. 

According to Unusual Whales, the rental home was “sold on the Roofstock onChain NFT marketplace by transferring the Home onChain identity to an Ethereum address controlled by the homebuyer, Adam Slipakoff.” 

Of late, businesses have shown an increased interest in the metaverse in real estate. The 2021 sales figures notched up to $501 million, and by 2022-end, it is projected to reach $1 billion. 

As metaverse becomes more popular, it is predicted that the cost of real estate will rise at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45.2 per cent between 2020 and 2025, according to appinventiv.com.

What Is The Future Of Real Estate In Metaverse In India?

Real estate developers in India believe the concept is at a very nascent stage though it is fast catching up with people well-versed in Blockchain and virtual reality. 

“It will emerge as a good investment option for people dealing in crypto and utilising metaverse space to promote themselves or their companies among the like-minded populace,” says Yashank Wason, managing director, Royal Green Realty.

According to GlobalData, a renowned data and analytics business, the global metaverse market is anticipated to increase at 39.8 per cent CAGR to $996 billion in 2030.

According to people in the knowhow, metaverse is an immersive experience, and the real estate sector can capitalise on this technology. For instance, realtors can build all future mock-up apartments in the metaverse, and demonstrate the experience to the tenants in the virtual space.

“In retail, the experience will go beyond just discovering products. It can cater to offer engagements, activations. All of this could lead to sales,” says Najeeb Kunil, CEO, PPZ, a mall management company.

Real Estate Properties In Metaverse

Every real estate acquisition in the metaverse can be made unique as a replica of the real-world environment. Once real estate on metaverse becomes popular, owners can monetise it by providing advertising space, or even sell their virtual properties online.

“Imagine putting your metaverse property up for rent, much like an Airbnb property,” says Piyush Gupta, co-founder, VOSMOS and president, Kestone.

He adds that these could be customised as well. “Buyers can play, create, socialise in, and monetise land in the metaverse,” he adds.

That said, this will have nothing to do with the physical real estate. It will not address any housing issue, and more importantly, it is yet to be seen how it unfolds in its full glory once the technological developments sink in.

Sunil Maheshwari, co-founder, StellAR-AugmentedReality pointed out four points that will give unique experience in the metaverse. 

1) Fluid floor plan 

2) Exploring multiple floor plans to arrive at the best combination without the technicalities and guessing the measurements 

3) Show the walls and furniture’s exactly where they would be eventually 

4) Run different time of day/ night, lighting condition scenarios.

Incidentally, Interpol has also said in a recent statement that as the number of metaverse users grow and the technology further develops, the list of possible crimes will also expand to potentially include financial and money laundering fraud, data theft, counterfeiting, ransomware, phishing, as well as the usual crimes against children, and sexual assault and harassment.

“For law enforcement, some of these threats are likely to present significant challenges, because not all acts that are criminalised in the physical world are considered crimes when committed in the virtual world,” Interpol said.