“It’s something that will continue to generate interest. While anyone can create a platform and sell virtual land, the value will depend on the quality of the virtual world,” said Ashish Agarwal, co-founder of Lepasa, which creates virtual cities.
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The company plans to create 15-20 different cities across 416 km², with each city having a different theme.
“The land on the metaverse can also be used by brands to build experience centers and retail spaces to showcase products. People, instead of downloading different games, can play all the games on the metaverse. This will increase the value of virtual lands,” said Alok Joshi, co-founder of Lepasa.
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The metaverse is a relatively new concept in real estate technology, after concepts such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
“Digital land trading and investment in virtual real estate is booming as millions of investors are open to the concept of the metaverse. Many real estate investors see this as the next big step towards embracing digitalization in the real estate industry after virtual site visits, online bookings and chatbots,” said Nayan Raheja, Director of Raheja Developers.
Companies that build virtual worlds break it up into smaller chunks that are purchased as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Some companies also help buyers with a registry that cannot be changed so that no one else can claim that parcel.
Alakananda Menon, Program Chair, MBA Real Estate Management, NMIMS, School of Business Management, said the concept of virtual real estate on the Metaverse is brilliant.
“However, this would be dictated by the metaverse developers. Just like in physical real estate, the value of the asset increases if nearby infrastructure is great. Similarly, in the virtual space, software developers would control the space by creating renders and metaverse assets that would attract people or investors to the platform,” Menon said.
To increase the value of virtual land, many developers might try to get big brands to join the city and showcase their products. It is like real estate in a metropolitan city, where the value of a property increases if it is centrally located and near a major infrastructure project.
Experts said that digital real estate looks promising and those who have invested in cryptocurrency will definitely invest in virtual land.
“There is surely a growing demand for escapism, and real estate in the metaverse fits that perfectly. Technology can still play a vital role in smoothing the overall transaction cycle and keeping customer concerns front and center. It can never replace the very fundamental idea of home,” said Ankit Kansal, Managing Director of 360 Realtors.
