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The real estate market is seeing renewed activity post the second wave of Covid-19. Home sales are picking up with hope that as things normalize there will be further rise in transactions.

Data with ANAROCK Property Consultants suggests the easing property sales increased dramatically as the second wave subsided. “From what we saw in the last three months (April to June period), June has been the best performing month. All three months together saw total housing sales of nearly 24,570 units across the top 7 cities. Of this, around 50-60% were in June alone – just when the second covid peak began to gradually recede,” Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Property Consultants said.

This was followed by around 30% sales in the month of April while May – when the second wave was at its peak – saw the least activity of between 10-20%. “Sales varied from city to city depending on when states began to impose lockdowns and restrictions and subsequently ease them,” Puri pointed out.
The speed and extent of vaccination will be a determinant of future sales. “As the vaccination drive has picked up pace, we expect home sales to bounce back faster, with new launches and businesses slowly getting back on track,” Deepak Khandelwal, Principal Partner, Square Yards said.

Shift in buying trend

However, has there been a shift in property buying trends post Covid-19? Trends with real estate players suggest buyers are not just looking at the larger metros as investment options, but are shifting their focus on properties in the second rung cities. “Townships in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and self-sustained gated communities that offer a safe and secure environment are popular with homebuyers. Most homebuyers believe that they can find better entry prices, flexible amenities and sizable returns in locations like Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Indore and Lucknow,” Khandelwal said.

Gurgaon and Mumbai are among the preferred metro destinations. “In the current scenario, investments are no more driven only by the scope of appreciation but also the liveability of the area. As per the Square Yards report titled ‘Suitability Index-The Covid Perspective’ Gurgaon was found to be more liveable compared to Mumbai and Bengaluru from a Covid point of view. With a plethora of property options the city could be a good choice for end-users. Apart from this, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Bengaluru and Pune can also be considered particularly for investment as these offer scope for potential price appreciation over the next 5-10 years. These cities are witnessing massive infrastructure overhauls in transport, setting of major industrial parks, manufacturing hubs and SEZ zones, that will transform the livability index of these cities,” Khandelwal said.

Top destinations

Chandigarh and Lucknow also figure among the top destinations as per ANAROCK. “Property enquiries in tier-2 cities like Lucknow, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Chandigarh etc. saw significant growth post the pandemic. Just before the second Covid wave – especially October to December – ANAROCK saw two-fold rise in property enquiries in Lucknow as against pre-Covid-19 period in 2019. Interestingly, Lucknow raced ahead of some of top cities like NCR, Chennai and Hyderabad in terms of total enquiries received by ANAROCK in FY21.” Puri said.

Besides affordability, the improved infrastructure in some of the non-metro cities is proving to be a big pull. “The real estate markets in the smaller towns and cities are being aided by their affordable prices as against big cities and the superior infrastructure that many of these Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities provide.” Puri said.