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| Patrick Hendry/Unsplash |
India’s real estate sector was hit hard by the pandemic just
when it was recovering from a 5-year slide owing to; first, demonetisation and
second, the NBFC crisis. However, despite a deep cash crunch and a drop in demand for residential, retail and commercial real estate due to two COVID-19 waves, the last
couple of months have brought in some much-needed good news for the sector.
Yeah? What’s looking up?
Customer sentiment and as a result, improving demand for
property.
Reason?
In Fact, Here are Three.
An improving economy – Many core sectors like retail,
automobile, agriculture and construction are on a sure-footed recovery path and
only the contact-heavy industries like transport, tourism and hospitality
remain weak. Hiring in India’s information technology (IT), healthcare and
education sectors has shot through the roof while salary hikes are part of
conversations over cutting chai again.
Low Interest Rates – Home loans are way cheaper today than
they were just a few years ago and fence sitters (now fortified with two doses
of the vaccine) are ready to buy that property. This translates to more demand
for real estate.
Consolidation – The perfect storm the sector weathered over the last year-and-a-half has ensured that most small, under capitalised
developers have called it quits, making way for large, trustworthy corporates with deep pockets
to take charge of the Indian primary real estate market.