Art auctioneer Saffronart is diversifying into real estate; only the very rich may apply.C K Prahalad, the late management guru, would probably approve. But to most casual observers, it might be difficult to spot what Prahalad would call the “core competence” in Saffronart’s newest business of auctioning high-value real estate. Actually, there are more synergies than most would spot. At its very basic, the Mumbai-based online fine art auction house’s “core competence” is facilitating price discovery among its high-net worth (read: very rich) clients for art and jewellery. By tying up with realty consultants Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) to auction ultra-premium properties across India, it is leveraging its core strength. It is here that Saffronart’s 5,000-strong clientele of high-net worth individuals come in. “These are people who are used to buying fine art and jewellery online,” says Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and co-founder of Saffronart, so the extension into property made sense. C&W and Saffronart are equal partners in the tie-up and will share commissions on sales — 2 per cent from the seller and 1 per cent from buyer. On offer on the Saffronart website is a sea-facing apartment located in south Mumbai’s Breach Candy locality. The asking price? Rs 22 crore. But the the most expensive of the seven properties up for private sale is a four-bedroom flat in the prestigious Cuffe Parade neighbourhood tagged at Rs 26 crore. Far cheaper are similar properties in New Delhi — an apartment at Navjivan Vihar for Rs 8 crore — and Bangalore — a duplex penthouse on Spencer Road for an asking price of Rs 4 crore. It’s not just secondary sales that the venture offers. Verandahs, a new development on Gurgaon’s DLF Golf Course Road from Salcon, a realty brand from Delhi-based Saluja Constructions, is listed (prices — Rs 4.5-8.6 crore) and so is Homage, a high-end holiday villa project near Rishikesh (Rs 2.5-5 crore). Internet portals in the real-estate sector such as 99acres, Magicbricks and Indiaproperty have been around for some time but these are aggregators of information for buyers, sellers and brokers. They don’t offer online sales or auctions, which can be a tricky affair, especially in the commoditised apartment market where “look and feel is very important” says Jay Mavani, executive director and head of KPMG’s construction and real-estate practice. High quality and unique location are the two criteria for properties offered on “prime properties” stresses Vazirani. Besides, the unstructured nature of the secondary market, especially in the premium segment, the lack of transparency and brokers with national or international reach, would also work in favour of an online model, he reasons. The premium segment also saw a 2-10 per cent correction in most places, says a recent CW report that also projects 9,000 homes in this category entering the markets in the next 2-4 years. To help them decide, Saffronart has uploaded pictures of the properties — some of them styled by furnishings chain Goodearth. A lavish print catalogue will also go out to members. Already, the response has been encouraging, and Vazirani says he is close to a deal on two holiday homes in Rishikesh and Alibaug. Source: www.indianrealtynews.com
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