Mumbai, March 5: Tech-savvy buyers are adopting digital medium for property-related transactions, preferring to search for rental properties online, a survey revealed. According to a study by property portal NoBroker.com on a sample-size of 7,063 tenants from across the country, nearly 83 percent of respondents preferred searching online for prospective properties to rent. The study also revealed that 31 percent of respondents still depended upon the conventional route of consulting friends and family.

"Among those who preferred searching online, desktop users accounted for 44 percent, 38 percent were mobile app users, and mobile search users comprised 29 percent of the overall demographic. Nearly 59 percent of respondents even preferred to pay their rent online," it said. While 63 percent of the respondents expressed great satisfaction and happiness with online platforms, 54 percent even found the property of their choice within the first 30 days of conducting online searches.

"The popularisation of online platforms has been of immense benefit to the end-user, as it has negated the existence of middle-men and brokers. Further, development of these portals in terms of verification of listings and security, as well as bringing down documentation and brokerage costs," a NoBroker spokesperson said.

The report, however, noted that despite the growing preference for adopting the digital medium for property-related transactions, users still displayed 'trust issues' with the digital domain. "Spurious listings with lack of information or fake property photographs were the prime reason for such distrust according to 52 percent of respondents. On an average, prospective tenants contacted at least six property owners before making a choice, while 80 percent of those surveyed said they undertake a physical verification of property," it said.

Furthermore, 48 percent of respondents preferred to get their own rental agreements done. The study also revealed that affordable housing is emerging as a clear topper in the bucket list of Indian buyers, with one-third of tenants aspiring to buy a house. "With 47 percent of respondents stating that they will be comfortable buying a house for less than Rs 40 lakh, affordable housing should rise as a phoenix for the Indian real estate sector," the spokesperson added.