How new-age developers are navigating digital fatigue through human connection, innovative ownership models, and experiential engagement.
For decades, real estate was the bastion of the physical world, a business built on handshakes, site visits and glossy brochures. Then, in a span of a few years, the digital tide swept in. Virtual walkthroughs replaced weekend site tours, chatbots handled queries and blockchain promised trust where humans once brokered it.
But as we step into 2025, the market is confronting a new paradox: digital fatigue.
After years of endless Zooms, screen-bound experiences and algorithmic recommendations, today’s buyers especially Millennials and Gen Zs are digitally overwhelmed. They no longer crave another app or immersive tour but authenticity, connection and value.
This shift has triggered a digital real estate reset where developers are re-engineering engagement from chasing clicks to nurturing long-term connection and retention.
The Age of Digital Fatigue and the Search for Retention
In the early 2020s, developers raced to digitise transactions, tours, payments and even post-sales service, making homebuying frictionless. However, the same tools that once simplified life have now saturated it.
Today’s homebuyers are logging out because they seek empathy more than efficiency.The challenge for developers is no longer “How do we get more clicks?” but “How do we make people care enough to stay?” This has given rise to a new metric of success in real estate called digital retention, the ability to build lasting trust and engagement beyond the first interaction. Smart developers are using a blend of AI, behavioural analytics and human-centric design to sustain buyer relationships long after the initial transaction.
From community-driven apps and exclusive investor clubs to loyalty programmes rewarding participation in webinars or referral programmes, the future belongs to those who turn their digital platforms into ecosystems of belonging.
The New Buyer: More Than Just a House Hunter
The new-age homebuyer is not hunting for walls and windows, seeking alignment with their values and lifestyle.
A 2025 JLL study reveals that Millennials and Gen Zs now account for nearly 65% of new Indian homebuyers. Their purchase decisions are guided as much by purpose as by price.
With hybrid and remote work redefining domestic routines, homes are no longer static assets but flexible ecosystems. The new buyer wants a space that morphs through the day: a Zoom nook for meetings, a wellness corner for downtime and a green balcony for mindfulness. Sustainability has moved from aspiration to expectation. According to Knight Frank’s 2025 Global Buyer Survey, 70% of Indian buyers prioritise sustainable housing, the highest in the Asia-Pacific region. Solar rooftops, rainwater harvesting, EV-ready parking and smart waste systems are essentials that influence perception, resale and pride of ownership.
Fractional Ownership and Strata Selling: Democratising Access
As ownership models evolve, so do buyer aspirations. The rise of fractional ownership and strata selling is democratising an asset class once reserved for the elite. Fractional platforms such as Strata, hBits, and Assetmonk allow retail investors to co-own Grade-A assets such as offices, co-living spaces and resorts with ticket sizes starting around ₹25 lakh. The market, valued at roughly ₹4,000 crore in 2023, is projected to touch ₹45,000 crore by 2030 (JLL India).
Meanwhile, strata sales where individual units within income-producing commercial or hospitality properties are sold to multiple owners are creating steady rental yields and investment diversity. For developers, this ensures upfront capital recovery and recurring engagement through managed leasing programs. These models are turning real estate into a participatory economy where every investor, big or small, becomes part of the value chain. And because blockchain underpins these transactions, transparency, rent distribution and compliance are automated.
In an era of digital fatigue, fractional engagement creates emotional ownership. It gives investors a stake, a story, and a sense of community, three things algorithms alone can’t replicate.
From Ownership to Access: The Rise of the Rental Mindset
The traditional Indian dream of owning a home is quietly being rewritten.
Affordability challenges, mobile careers and the rise of experiential living have accelerated the rental-over-ownership mindset. For urban professionals, flexibility now trumps possession.
Developers are responding by building developer-led rental portfolios that are curated, branded and service-driven. Co-living and senior-living spaces, furnished rental towers and subscription-based “stay-your-way” residences are redefining urban living.
This shift also reflects a broader psychological change: younger generations see property not just as a financial goal but as a lifestyle facilitator. Access is the new ownership and it’s giving rise to new revenue models such as Rent & Earn programmes and branded leasing ecosystems.
Beyond Big Cities: New Horizons in Real Estate
It’s not just how we buy homes that’s changing but also where.India’s urban sprawl is finding new epicentres. Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities such as Surat, Nashik, Indore and Coimbatore, among others are emerging as dynamic growth hubs, thanks to infrastructure upgrades, new employment clusters and digital accessibility. Between 2020 and 2025, these markets have seen property registrations surge over 40%, with Nashik alone recording a 57% rise over the past decade, reaching nearly six lakh registered properties this year
Digital tools have made cross-city buying effortless. Virtual verification, instant site simulations and secure e-registration now allow a buyer in Bengaluru to close a deal in Nagpur without stepping out. For developers, this digital decentralisation means an expanded national audience. For buyers, it offers affordable living with big-city amenities, a balance increasingly valued in the age of remote work and lifestyle mobility..
The Power of Data: Turning Intuition into Insight
In today’s real estate landscape, data is the new location. Every digital interaction be it searches, walkthrough durations or click heatmaps, feeds analytics engines that predict what buyers want and when they’ll act.
Propstack, for instance, analyses millions of transaction records to identify high-growth micro-markets and yield-rich assets. Globally, platforms like CoreLogic and Realtor.com use predictive analytics to forecast price movements and buyer intent, transforming guesswork into science. This data-driven approach has made the market more rational and less emotional. Buyers once guided by instinct now depend on dashboards that map affordability, future connectivity and sustainability impact. Developers use these insights to tailor pricing, product mix and marketing strategies, hence, maximising ROI and relevance.
Virtual Reality: Bringing Homes to the Fingertips
Even as screen fatigue grows, immersive technology continues to reshape discovery. Virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) experiences have moved from novelty to necessity. Indian developers such as Godrej Properties and Lodha now use high-definition VR walkthroughs to help buyers “walk” through unfinished projects, explore scale, light and layouts, and visualise interiors long before handover.
On-site, AR overlays are enhancing the physical experience: scan a wall and your phone displays material specs, energy ratings or upgrade options. Globally, Matterport’s 3D-mapping tools pioneered during pandemic lockdowns, remain a cornerstone for developers selling across geographies.
However, in a world of hyper-visual saturation, immersive tech must inspire, not exhaust. The new challenge is to use VR not just as spectacle but as a storyteller that’s personalised, concise and emotionally resonant. Developers who blend sensory design with narrative authenticity are converting interest into intent.
Balancing Tech with Touch: The Human Premium
As the digital ecosystem expands, so does the yearning for human connection. No matter how advanced AI becomes, homebuying remains deeply emotional. The most trusted developers are those who blend tech efficiency with human empathy. They use AI to inform not replace advisory conversations. They automate processes but personalise interactions. They treat data as insight, not intrusion.
In an era of digital fatigue, the differentiator isn’t who has the most tools, but who uses them with integrity. The return of physical showcases, live investor meets and personalised concierge programmes underlines one truth that trust doesn’t scale with technology but with transparency.
Redefining Engagement: From Transaction to Relationship
The new mandate for developers is to build ecosystems, not just inventories. Every sale is the start of a relationship that must be nurtured through digital retention strategies, community apps, event invites, co-ownership updates, rental income dashboards and sustainability impact reports. AI chatbots may close leads, but it’s human-centric communication that builds advocacy.
As developers move from “sell and sign-off” to “sell and stay-connected,” they’re transforming customers into ambassadors and assets into experiences. The forward-looking real-estate brand will not be measured by its digital presence alone but by the depth of its connection with its buyers, investors and the communities it shapes.
The Future: Connection Over Conversion
Real estate is entering its connection economy, a world where attention is finite but trust compounds. The next phase of growth will be defined not by how digital developers become, but by how human they remain.
- AI will continue to personalise.
- Blockchain will continue to secure.
- VR will continue to immerse.
- But only empathy will sustain.
The modern homebuyer wants an experience, a relationship and a shared value system. Developers who recognise this shift from transactional tech to emotional retention, will define the next decade of real-estate leadership. Ultimately, the smartest technology is the one that helps us reconnect with our spaces, aspirations and with ourselves.
Pushpamitra Das, Chairman & Managing Director, JUSTO RealFintech Limited