The Indian realty sector, which had been suffering from several problems in recent years, started off slowly in 2020. It came to an abrupt halt in the month of March as a result of the pandemic and the lockdown that followed. The industry faced an unexpected hurdle in growth and development, with construction activities stopping and housing sales declining. However, the realty sector proved its resilience through fast recovery, with the sales rebounding to pre-pandemic levels.
The Tier 2 and 3 cities witnessed a major spike in housing demand as a result of the reverse migration. Many of the professionals who migrated to the Tier 1 cities for employment started to return to their hometowns after losing their jobs during the lockdown. Moreover, the work-from-home system no longer required them to reside at the city they are employed in. The metro cities are also quite expensive in terms of lifestyle and due to the financial troubles caused by the pandemic, many chose to move to the tier 2 and 3 cities. In fact, about 30% of the housing demand in May 2020 originated from tier 2 and 3 cities like Amritsar, Meerut, Karnal, etc.
The demand for homes among end-users has seen a significant rise as well. It is notable that before the pandemic, it wasn’t promising at all as an increasing number of millennials has chosen to live in rental homes. By triggering the need to own a home, the pandemic caused an upsurge in housing demand. Moreover, with people stuck at their residences due to the lockdown, many are purchasing holiday homes to help themselves get rid of the monotony.
Major changes have been noticed in the type of properties sought after by homebuyers. People now prefer to buy spacious residences with extra rooms which can be used as offices and offer a peaceful ambience suitable for a workspace. Evidently, this is a result of the growing popularity of WFH. Many of the developers have also been building real estate complexes which come integrated with specific business centres or office spaces.
With the aim to boost sales and earn the trust of the homebuyers, the developers are trying to meet their demands as best as possible. For example, an increasing number of projects with fitness, lifestyle and recreational amenities are coming up, to provide the residents with all of these while they stay at home for safety. The leading builders are also integrating their projects with contactless technologies, which as keyless-entry and voice-operated assistants. Driven by political and economic stability, the real estate sector is all set to flourish in 2021.
