Women in Real Estate

NAREDCO MAHI’s second national convention highlighted four distinct themes.

A new wave of female entrepreneurs is emerging in the real estate sector as more and more women actively participate in all facets of development, purchase and sales. The skill and ingenuity that women possess have been well-recognized, and women are building their repertoires in real estate and various asset classes as executives, promoters, architects, designers, developers, realtors, lawyers or consultants, among others. 

To highlight women’s contributions to the sector and other topics, NAREDCO (National Real Estate Development Council) MAHI (the women’s wing of the realty body) held its second national convention on March 3 with four distinct themes: 

• Jal Bachao, Kal Bachao 
• Empowering Real Women in the Real World
• Green Building & Sustainability 
• Entrepreneurial Mindset: Scale & Growth of Indian Start-ups

In her welcome address, Dr. Ananta S. Raghuvanshi, founding member and president, NAREDCO MAHI, observed that gender integration would prove to be an important milestone in the growth of the real estate sector in India, recognizing the contribution of women employees equally. She also felt that a skilled workforce in real estate is critical to achieving near-perfection in construction. She emphasized: 

“Over the past decade, the real estate industry has undergone substantial upheaval. The industry has changed from being mostly informal and unorganized to becoming more structured and organized. Some good talent, regardless of gender, has emerged as a result of the sector’s formalization and consolidation. The entry of large corporations into the sector has also increased opportunities for professional women. This does not negate the fact that there are still areas of the real estate market where women find it difficult to get into. Therefore, it will be beneficial to see women in top positions in the real estate sector since they will act as mentors and role models for the subsequent wave of female workers. Furthermore, women have acquired the trust of their peers, bosses and clients in order to prove their worth in the real estate industry, or any other profession for that matter.” 

Rajan Bandelkar, president, NAREDCO, focused on establishing links between past and future real estate practices with the integration of modern technologies in his address. He emphasized that the impression that real estate remains a male-dominated industry must disappear, which would be possible if female work participation is encouraged. He said: 

“Women have been breaking free from the constraints of a patriarchal society in recent years, reaching new heights in a variety of fields, including real estate. The fact that the industry is now much more organized and provides equal opportunity for everyone is one of the major paradigm shifts. Businesses are increasingly considering adopting a more inclusive workplace culture. Additionally, more and more women are ascending to executive roles in the real estate sector, shattering the adage about the ‘glass ceiling.’ Moving forward, we must maintain our focus and create ‘policy frameworks’ that can draw a broad workforce to real estate careers. To create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce, organizations must continue to prioritize Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) efforts.”

Alok Gupta, director general, and Preeti Singh, deputy director general, NAREDCO, were also present. The focus of the convention was to build real estate for every section of society so the government’s commitment under Prime Minister Modi is fulfilled and other stakeholders in the sector enjoy a win-win situation of building India.

A joint report made by JLL and NAREDCO MAHI, released during the event, indicates that women’s participation in real estate is estimated at 7 million against men’s 50 million, and there is a 15% pay disparity in the leadership roles of women. Only 2% of women hold leadership roles in construction companies, which needs to be addressed. The other findings were as follows: 

• Focus on DE&I: More focus on inclusion and diversity in organizations has led to women taking roles in real estate sales, marketing, asset management, brokerage and construction, which were earlier more male-dominated domains.
• Building ecosystem: Adaptability of women in the sector is breaking the stereotypes of work-life balance for women. As a result, firms are introducing women-focused initiatives like crèche facilities, sabbaticals, etc.
• Entry of multinational corporations (MNCs): Entry of MNCs in the Indian market has given women greater avenues of growth, and women have proved themselves to be an invaluable asset to the sector.
• Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) guidelines: The fundamental changes made to RERA have resulted in greater transparency in the real estate and construction sector, including information on the percentage of women workers working on construction sites, the presence of required facilities such as proper toilets and availability of working crèches for all real estate projects in India. 

Top Three Takeaways

1. Participation by women has almost doubled in the last five years in the workforce according to surveyed companies, pointing to positive reinforcement of diverse hiring. 
2. Eighty percent of employees feel companies are working to address the gender imbalance at senior levels. Seventy percent of employees feel there is leadership focus on enhancing the DE&I culture in the organization.
3. While women in C-suite roles overwhelmingly do not think gender has played a role in their missing out on career growth, the remaining women in other roles are split equally, with 50% feeling that gender has impacted their career growth at some point.

Launched in September 2021 (NAREDCO MAHI Launched), NAREDCO MAHI was established with a vision to enrich, empower, educate and encourage the participation of women in real estate and allied industries.

The main goal of NAREDCO MAHI is to provide women leaders and business owners with a platform that will further enable inclusion, knowledge sharing, mentoring and networking to advance the real estate and housing industries by empowering women to participate in the creation of national policies, programs and fiscal reforms. 

The mission of NAREDCO MAHI is to advance equality of opportunity and professional competence.