Coronavirus (COVID-19): Impact on the real estate market in India

With the onset of coronavirus outbreak, the economy of India is seen to be slowing down; impacting the housing market in the realty industry.

You are reading this article, which means India is still in a precautionary state but with the ground situation changing every day. The Indian government is trying its best to overcome COVID-19 or Coronavirus pandemic by announcing a lockdown for 21 days. As per the Indian Government report, so far, 15,24,266 passengers screened at airport, 1500 active COVID-19 cases, 150 Cured/Discharged/ Migrated cases, and 50 death cases.

The coronavirus outbreak has slowed down a number of employees, which has impacted share market being and a generally slow economy; eventually affecting the housing segments in the Indian realty industry. Present authorities have restricted travel; leading to delays in decisions on commercial real estate space taken-up in few recent days. However, the term-long remains unspecified in the time of an uncertain future.

Realty market situation during the festive season

The festive season like Akshaya Tritiya and Navratri, which are considered to be auspicious occasions for launching new projects and also purchasing new properties, was expected to see a gush in demand but will not be the same this year. Also, there was not much demand seen during Gudi Padwa or Ugadi. In the past few quarters, the housing market did witness some positive sight but owing to the pandemic, slow economy and pressure on liquidity, this trend might take another turn.

Some builders are skeptical and are looking forward to the launch of their new projects considering the present scenario. While some are focusing on completing the existing project instead. Hence, new project launches are estimated to see a fall by 15-20% this festive season. There will be certainly a few expectations regarding projects that are already in the soft-launch stage. These projects seem to have a fair amount of marketing spend.

Change in the perspective of home buyers

The category of homebuyers mostly belongs to the workings class. This will impact their buying decisions because many prospective buyers will not be too certain about their jobs now. So, they may not be eligible to take a loan for buying a new property. Furthermore, they may not be able to decide to take the responsibility of an added liability and the burden of the EMIs.  

In the interim, some property sellers are opting for virtual reality. This will allow customers to request site visits online, helping maintain social distancing; resulting to boost housing sales too.

So far if we were to analyze the entire situation, the recent report by CBRE mentioned that Indian economies could result in delayed decision making, curtailed capital expenditure, and thereby slowing down the number of inquiries. This will all impact the housing market in the realty industry.

The positive side is the affordable housing schemes. The demand for properties may continue to exist considering government incentives associated with it. Moreover, there’s nothing much to worry about, the world and India have witnessed many more deadly epidemics than novel coronavirus in the past and we have successfully surmounted.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are for informational purposes only based on industry reports and related news stories. Propertypistol does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information and shall not be held responsible for any action taken based on the published information.