Short answer: Property portals (99acres, MagicBricks, Housing.com) sell visibility to people already browsing listings, but enquiries are often shared with competing sellers. Google Ads captures buyers actively searching a project, locality or configuration, at the highest cost per lead (about ₹300–2,500 in India) with the strongest intent. Meta Ads creates demand among people who were not searching, at the lowest cost per lead (about ₹150–2,000) but with the most filtering needed. Use portals for resale and rental inventory and category presence, Google for launch and active-demand capture, Meta for awareness and volume, and compare all three on cost per completed site visit.
How do property portals, Google Ads and Meta Ads compare?
Each channel reaches the buyer at a different moment, so the useful question is not "which is best" but "which job does each one do for this project". The table summarises the differences that matter in practice.
| Factor | Property portals | Google Ads (Search) | Meta Ads (Facebook, Instagram) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buyer intent | High for category ("2 BHK in Wakad"); buyer is comparing many listings | Highest: buyer typed a project, locality or builder name | Low to medium: buyer was scrolling, not searching |
| Pricing model | Monthly or annual package; builder products quote-only | Pay per click, auction-based | Pay per impression, auction-based |
| Typical Indian cost | 99acres broker plans from about ₹3,149/month; brokers report ₹4,000–75,000+/month | CPC ₹40–400; CPL ₹300–2,500 | CPL ₹150–2,000 |
| Lead exclusivity | Often shared with several sellers | Exclusive to you | Exclusive to you |
| Control of message and page | Listing template only | Full: ad copy, keywords, landing page | Full: creative, audience, form or page |
| Feedback loop to the platform | None that improves targeting for you | Upload qualified leads and visits as conversions | Send CRM stages through Conversion Leads |
| Speed to first result | Days, once the package is live | Days, if search demand exists | 1–2 weeks of learning |
| Main weakness | Shared, sometimes stale enquiries | Limited volume; rental and job searches leak in | Low-intent and fake form fills |
| Best for | Resale, rental, ready inventory, brokers | Launches, named projects, active micro-markets | New launches needing awareness, affordable housing volume, retargeting |
Sources for the cost row are below. Every one of these channels must carry the project's RERA registration number and the authority's website in the ad itself, under Section 11(2) of the RERA Act; on portals that usually means the project page, and on Google and Meta it means the creative and the landing page.
Which channel costs less per lead, and per site visit?
Indian working ranges published by CRM vendor Sell.do (updated August 2026) put Meta lead ads at ₹150–2,000 per lead and Google Search at ₹300–2,500. Indian search clicks run ₹40–400, with tier-1 locality terms near ₹250 and tier-2/3 terms under ₹50, per upGrowth's September 2026 estimates. Portal list prices come from a July 2026 comparison by ClosingFox: 99acres owner plans from about ₹899 and broker packages from about ₹3,149 a month, with brokers reporting real spends of ₹4,000–60,000; MagicBricks and Housing.com are quote-only, with broker-reported MagicBricks tiers from about ₹5,000 to ₹75,000+ a month. All exclude 18% GST. The full breakdown, including cost per booking by price band, is in our real estate lead generation cost guide.
Cost per lead misleads because the three channels produce different kinds of lead. The worked example below uses assumed rates for a ₹80 lakh–1.2 crore project; replace them with your CRM numbers.
| Worked example (assumptions) | Portal package | Google Search | Meta lead form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly spend (before GST) | ₹40,000 | ₹2,00,000 | ₹1,50,000 |
| Leads | 120 | 160 (CPL ₹1,250) | 300 (CPL ₹500) |
| Contact rate | 60% | 75% | 55% |
| Contacted → completed visit | 8% | 15% | 7% |
| Completed visits | 5.8 | 18 | 11.6 |
| Cost per completed visit | ₹6,900 | ₹11,100 | ₹12,900 |
In this example the portal wins on cost per visit but caps out at six visits; Google produces the most visits; Meta's cheap leads end up the most expensive per visit. Your numbers will differ, which is exactly why the comparison must be run on visits.
US data shows the same shape. LocalIQ's 2026 real estate search benchmarks (894 US campaigns, April 2025–March 2026) report a median search conversion rate of 3.70% and a median CPL of US$102.51 (about ₹9,915 at ₹96.72 per US$, 9 October 2026), several times what Meta leads cost in its other benchmarks. The rupee figures do not transfer to India; the ratio between channels does.
Which channel gives better quality real estate leads?
Portals: the buyer is genuinely in the market, but is usually talking to several sellers at once. ClosingFox reports brokers' estimates that a single enquiry can reach 4–15 brokers in busy tier-1 markets, and that brokers quote 1–4% of portal enquiries becoming deals (both unverified broker estimates). Quality depends on calling within minutes and on listing accuracy; stale listings generate irritated callers.
Google Ads: intent is strongest on project-name, builder-name and "locality + configuration" searches. Quality drops when broad match lets in rentals, PG, jobs and "property dealer" searches; our Google Ads real estate guide has the negative keyword list. Google lead forms can add qualifying questions on Search campaigns and support OTP verification.
Meta Ads: the widest reach and the most noise. Instant forms prefill name and phone, so a single tap creates a "lead". Higher-intent forms, a budget question and SMS verification cut the junk; the setup is in our Meta Ads real estate guide and fake lead guide. Click-to-WhatsApp ads start a conversation instead of a form, so a bot or advisor can ask budget and timeline before the buyer goes cold; Meta makes messages in that thread free for 72 hours when you reply within 24 hours. Our WhatsApp automation guide for real estate shows the flow.
How much control and data do you get from each channel?
- Portals own the buyer experience. You control the listing content and photos, not who sees them, and you cannot tell the portal which enquiries became bookings in a way that changes who it sends next.
- Google gives you keyword-level data and your own landing page. Leads from Google lead forms are stored for 60 days and downloadable as CSV for the last 30 days, per Google's lead form help, so connect a webhook or CRM integration from day one.
- Meta lets you feed CRM outcomes back. Its Conversion Leads integration needs at least 200 leads a month, a target stage reached within 28 days, and daily uploads; once running, Meta optimises toward people likely to reach that stage, not just to fill a form.
The practical consequence: portals are a fixed-quality input you buy, while Google and Meta improve as your CRM data improves. That makes the CRM, not the channel, the long-term advantage; see our real estate CRM and lead management guide.
When should you use portals, Google Ads or Meta Ads?
| Situation | Lead with | Support with | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resale or rental broker, many listings | Portals | Google Business Profile, WhatsApp | Buyers browse inventory on portals; ads per listing rarely pay back |
| New launch by a known developer | Google (brand and project names) | Meta for awareness, portal project page | Launch publicity creates searches you must capture |
| New launch by a lesser-known developer | Meta (video, location story) | Google locality terms, retargeting | Nobody searches a name they have not heard |
| Affordable housing, tier-2 city | Meta and Click-to-WhatsApp | Google locality terms (cheap CPCs) | Volume matters; search CPCs often under ₹50 |
| Luxury or ₹3 crore+ | Google (high-intent terms) | Meta lookalikes of past buyers, portal premium listing | Fewer, richer leads; budget qualification is critical |
| NRI buyers | Google in target countries | Meta with country targeting | Meta's housing special ad category is required when targeting the US, Canada and Europe |
| Plots and villas in growth corridors | Google locality and "plots near" searches | Meta video, portal listings | Searches are specific; video explains location |
Organic search sits alongside all three for project and locality pages; our real estate SEO guide covers what you can rank for against the portals.
How should you split budget across portals, Google and Meta?
Start from a hypothesis, then move money every two weeks toward the channel with the lowest cost per completed visit that still has room to scale. Two illustrative starting splits (not benchmarks):
- Developer, mid-segment launch, ₹5 lakh/month: Google ₹2 lakh (project, builder and locality terms), Meta ₹2.25 lakh (video views, lead forms, retargeting), portal project page ₹50,000–75,000.
- Broker with 40 resale listings, ₹60,000/month: portal package ₹25,000–35,000, Google ₹15,000 on 3–4 locality terms, Click-to-WhatsApp ₹10,000–15,000 to past enquirers' lookalikes.
How do you compare channels fairly?
- Tag every lead with an original source, and keep it when the same buyer enquires again elsewhere.
- Count total cost: media, portal package, GST, creative and agency fees.
- Use the same definitions for valid lead, qualified lead and completed visit across all sources.
- Compare cohorts of leads created in the same weeks, and wait at least 30 days before judging visit rates.
- Report cost per completed visit and, after 90 days, cost per booking by channel.
What mistakes do real estate marketers make when comparing these channels?
- Calling portal leads slowly. A shared enquiry called two hours later is usually lost.
- Judging Meta on CPL. The cheapest lead is often the costliest visit.
- Running Google on broad match without negatives. Rental and job searches eat the budget.
- Buying a portal package on the sales rep's promise. Ask for a 30-day trial or the number of responses on similar listings.
- Letting the last channel take all the credit. A buyer who saw a Meta video, then searched the project name, is a Meta-assisted lead.
Sources
- Sell.do: paid lead generation for real estate in India, 2026: Meta and Google CPL working ranges.
- upGrowth: Google Ads pricing in India 2026: real estate CPC ranges by city tier.
- ClosingFox: 99acres vs MagicBricks vs Housing.com: portal list prices, broker-reported spend, shared-lead estimates.
- LocalIQ real estate search advertising benchmarks 2026: US search CVR and CPL medians.
- Google Ads: About lead form assets: OTP verification, 60-day storage, 30-day CSV download.
- Google Ads: qualifying responses in lead forms: Search-only qualifying questions.
- Meta Conversion Leads integration: 200 leads/month, 28-day stage, daily upload.
- RERA Act, 2016: Section 11(2) registration number in advertisements.
- WhatsApp Business Platform pricing: 72-hour free entry point window for Click-to-WhatsApp ads.
- Meta special ad categories: housing category required for US, Canada and Europe targeting.