The Changing Face of Real Estate Sector, Now & Forever

Just like every other sector, real sector too isn’t immune from the adverse impact of COVID-19. However, it has opened a Pandora of opportunities for the sector as people have started looking at investment from real estate lenses rather than mutual funds and other forms of investment. Reason?

The lockdown and the unending impact of coronavirus that seems to stay for long had endured the importance of owning their own house among the people. The demand for bigger houses will see a rise as people still believe to stay indoor to curb any COVID-19 infection. Open spaces for kids to play, enough space for elderly to stroll and exercise, and a room to work from home add to the house hunting requirement list. As companies don’t seem to be in a mood to call off work from home option, this is going to be a norm for professionals, hence a separate workstation within home will be the next need pushing people to opt for bigger spaces.

However, the changing demand is greater than just the need for more space. The industry will see designs being highly influenced by technology, like touch-free elevators,

and even real estate companies will largely integrate technology to ensure less contact or human interaction with customers.

Technology such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and 3Dexperience via contactless communication will be highly leveraged by companies to interact with their buyers, who too will prefer this mode for health & safety.

The industry will see designs being highly influenced by technology like touch-free elevators, and even real estate companies will largely integrate technology to ensure less-contact or human interaction with customers

On the other hand, various initiatives and measures taken by the government recently will further boost the industry. RBI has reduced the repo rate to 4.4 percent and reverse repo rate to 3.75 percent, while the cash reserve ration to three percent. This has reduced the home loan interest rates to as low as 7.05-7.08 percent. RBI also has provided for a three-month extended moratorium period for all kinds of loans including home loans, while few state govern ments have extended the completion timelines of the projects by three months. Apart from these, there are several other measures that has provided a lease of life to the real estate sector. As the demand for projects will pick up, the industry will also see huge investments from NRIs who now see buying properties in India a better option with the rupee plummeting against dollar and the global stock market that nose-dived.