Vaccine, lower prices bring back optimism in realty: Survey

MUMBAI: The future seems brighter for the real estate sector this year after it faced a battering in 2020 courtesy the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant lockdown.

The reason — introduction of the Covid-19 vaccine, reduction in realty prices, low-interest rates on home loans, improved economic activity as well as proactive steps taken by the government to help the sector.

This is according to a survey published on Tuesday by Knight Frank, a real estate consultancy firm.

The survey, titled Real Estate Sentiment Index, is based on responses from 170 builders and non-banking financial companies (NBFCS).

“We are seeing a revival in economic activity and hiring taking place. Also, builders have lowered their prices and even interest rates on home loans have hit rock bottom. This will only result in more launches as well as sales in the coming months,” said Rajani Sinha, chief economist and national directorresearch, Knight Frank.

Sinha said that steps taken by the Maharashtra government to reduce stamp duty played a pivotal role in pushing up sales.

The real estate sector, which was facing a slowdown, suffered huge crises due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The realty sector came to a complete halt as new launches, sales and construction activity were unable to proceed due to financial issues and shortage of manual labour.

However, the last months of 2020 saw improvement in new launches and sales, alongside the revival of construction activity.

Commenting on the report, Niranjan Hiranandani, managing director, Hiranandani Group of Companies, called it a resurgence of the real estate sector. “We are seeing a renewed interest in home buying, and a large number of transactions have been taking place. This has vastly improved the sentiments which will be sustainable throughout this year. We also expect a positive Union budget which will script a revolution in the real estate sector,” said Hiranandani.

With a huge inventory piling up, builders have resorted to offering discounts as well as offers to consumers.

Banks and NBFCS have also cut down interest rates significantly.

A positive Union budget will script a revolution in the real estate sector NIRANJAN HIRANANDANI, Hiranandani Group