The Unprecedented Outbreak of Deadly Corona Virus has shaken the world thoroughly. The COVID impact is quite evident in all these sectors however it has lead major impacts on Real Estate in India. The second wave of Corona has spiked thirteen fold increase in cases with an active number of 3,79,308 cases.
In the Year 2020, everyone Learned New Normal of Work from Home however there are different changes that took place in real estate. Due to Lethal Resurgence of COVID-19 real estate may get off track Despite the New Normal as reported the Realty Experts. In India corona cases has surpassed United States and Brazil in terms of active cases with 12.8 million cases. The Corona Spike has affected Big Cities like Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Orissa extremely. Strict Restrictions have been imposed in different side of nation with Night Curfews, Weekend Lockdown, and Part-Lockdown.
Observing the Current Condition, Home Buyers are likely to get affected due to COVID-19 and Demand for Real Estate property may fall as well. However, Different Practices are getting into force by Banking Institutions for instance Apex Bank on April 7, 2021 chose to sustain Policy rates with Status Quo. In addition, SBI has decided to Raise Home Loan Interest Rate by 0.25% which is a clear indication of Banks backing off from low interest rate scheme imposed in the previous Lockdown in 2020.
Major Impacts:
1- Increase in Affordability of Properties
A Major Impact is to be anticipated on the behavior of Home Buyers as Home loan Interest rates are low but with higher exemption. Residential Sector may witness the higher sales considering the Sales number during January to March 2021. Home buyers can attain Home Loans at 6.65% annual Interest as RBI is going with Continue with the same Repo Rate that is 4%. For the Home Buyers it turns out to be the happy news as contrast to January 2020 where a higher rate of 8% was witnessed. An affordable housing will be a favorable outcome to occur proffering an opportunity to acquire Properties with affordability.
2- Downfall of Commercial & Retail Real Estate in India
Pandemic effects can be seen as a serious concern for the Commercial & Retail Real Estate in India as work from home concept has dropped down the leasing deals of the Office spaces. an amount of 35 lakh sqft in Jan-Mar 2021 has been declined that was 70 lakh sq ft as correspondence period in the Year 2020. Therefore, leasing transactions are likely to witness considerable downfall in the Retail Real Estate.
The Demand of the Flexible Workspaces has surged and also turned out to be a hit. In accordance to experts Flexible workspaces shall increase by 38 mnft in next one Year. The lockdown extension has made big downfall in Commercial & Retail Real Estate if it continues it may lead to serious concern for the industry.
What’s Good amid Pandemic?
The Higher spike in the COVID cases and restrictions is an adversary for everyone. Nevertheless, if we see what’s good in such situations there are considerable points that may arise a ray of hope among the realtors.
Restored Normalcy Due to Vaccine
The Year of 2020 introduced new lessons to everyone where we got introduced to new normal but also faced complications due to the lethal virus however in 2021 AstraZeneca’s Coronavirus Vaccine has given a sigh of relief. Economy is expected to witness momentum in 2021 & higher optimism due to introduction of Vaccine. A significant improvement in the economy status will be evident that’ll surely lead to higher growth.
Considering the current reports, Residential Housings is again getting stronger in sales and impact of coronavirus anticipated to be minimal in contrast to 2020. This is a clear indication of the full-fledged recovery of the Real Estate & reformation of multiple Efficient Strategies.
Rise of Remote working & Digitalization
The rise of remote working and digitalization is on peak all thanks to Covid Impact. the unprecedented situation made people smarter & efficient to find new way of working. A prolonged lockdown experiment has helped people not only to break the corona chain but to also exercise daily jobs with the help of digitalization. Multiple Revenue Targets have been met in commerce with the active access through digital Portals. in addition, rise of digitalization has taken down all the limitations related to work as now it can be completed from the comfort of home as well. accordingly, increase in efficiency and productivity of the employees without any wastage of time is a win-win situation.
Hence, we can say that technology has come out as the saving grace and key to cope up with Businesses.
In conclusion, Post COVID Impact in 2020 had extremely impacted the Real Estate. Better Days are expected in 2021 as amid growing corona cases Increasing Demand for Residential Properties is a evidence of it for Real Estate sector. Here’s an opportunity as during this time, Realty Experts in different sectors can readdress strategies for coping up with Pandemic Damage. However, the widespread of Corona cases has enlightened the need of Modern approaches to Business with transformational methods.