"We don't think real estate will be bought online ever," Info Edge CEO Hitesh Oberoi said during the company's Q4-FY15 earnings conference call, responding to a question from an investor who asked about whether 99Acres has plans to go beyond resale of property and new rentals. The investor pointed towards Snapdeal and Housing, which have entered the transactions side of the business; Snapdeal has a partnership with Tata Housing for selling real estate online.Note that Snapdeal recently announced that it sold a property worth Rs 1.1 crore online, and received 1800 purchase inquiries. NDTV has more, here. Oberoi said that 99Acres is "already in the new homes business, we are already in resale, we are already in rental, we do not do transaction." "Because to do a good job of serving the real estate market in a good year, you need to be in the new home market. If there are lots of launches, the new home segment may do well in a not a so good year. People (tend to) shift towards ready to move in apartments, and if interest rates are high then often they move towards rental, but the same consumer may come back and buy a house tomorrow. So, I think it makes sense to carry everyone along - that is the broker who has paid, the dealer who has paid, you know all of them do new homes, all of them do rentals, and all of them do resale as well." 99Acres recently introduced a new home platform on its site, which…
