International property show

International real estate markets are now on the radar of investors due to turmoil in global oil prices, geopolitical unrest and currency fluctuations. So, if you are one of those looking out for opportunities in property markets in UAE or other foreign lands, then you must book your calendars for the International Property Show (IPS).

2016 will see the 12^th edition of IPS to be held from April 11 – 13 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. With over 300 exhibitors and 20,000 visitors expected to flock to the venue, this edition is surely bigger and better than last year, wherein the IPS featured 125 exhibitors and 14,687 attendees.

The IPS facilitates B2B and B2C meetings and allows real estate transactions on its floor; Exhibitors can collect down payments and present title deeds to buyers at the show itself. The top six nationalities that visit the IPS every year are from India, Pakistan, the UK, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The show will see participation from the most sought-after markets by UAE investors such as Turkey, India, the UK and Egypt.

New markets on the block this year comprise Australia, Poland, Spain, Portugal and Greece. Pakistan pavilion will be debuting at this year’s edition.

Online broker community

Just like how Uber & Ola brought about a change in the lives of the cab drivers, life of a real estate agent is all set for a major transformation.

A road show was conducted by Square Yards, a real estate start-up in Noida to add new brokers to its Square Connect program. The company has already enrolled over 15,000 brokers across 12 different cities and also tied up with over 25 top stock brokerage firms, financial institutions and online firms for the programme. Noida road show was the first such event planned by the company with 450 brokers attending the event, the company said in a release.

“With the Square Connect program and mobile app, we are aggressively building the channel and plan to reach 100,000 brokers and achieve over 100 institutional tie ups by the end of FY 2015-16. This would be the largest distribution network of primary real estate anywhere in the world,” said Sahil Shah, Co-founder & Principal partner, Square Yards.

Square Connect will help brokers access exclusively sourced deals and inventory from grade-A developers, earn higher commission slabs from developers with demand aggregation and enable them to focus on core business. Through the programme, the company is about to conclude around 100 real estate transactions during the first month of its launch.

Real estate property in Mumbai