What Makes the Online Realty Business Tick?

Online real estate portals have attracted US$298 million or about .2000 crore in the last 5 years. More than half of this has poured in, in the last 2 years, coinciding with one of the slowest periods for real estate sales in India. On this realty debate, we seek a simple answer - what makes the online real estate business tick?
[ssba]