Realestate'spopularityasinvestmentassetclassincreasedsincepandemic

Amid deals, discounts, and cheaper home loans, nearly 62% of respondents in the CIIANAROCK COVID-19 Sentiment Survey consider it expedient to buy homes right away. 24% of respondents have already booked properties (81% of this segment were previously unsure of buying) and 38% opted for newlylaunched projects. The report was unveiled today by CII and knowledge partner ANAROCK at the 3rd CII Real Estate Confluencethemed 'Indian Real Estate Vision

2025'.

Real estate's popularity as an investment asset class increased perceptibly post COVID-19. About 57% of respondents now favour property over fixed deposits, the stock market, and gold. 59% property-favouring respondents were convinced after the pandemic unfolded, after riding the fence of uncertainty before COVID-19. Anuj Puri, Chairman - CII Real Estate Confluence 2021 and Chairman - ANAROCK Property Consultants says, “The survey underscores the massive impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on home-buying decisions. The work-from-home and online education culture have resulted in buyers seeking larger homes, even if it entails moving to peripheral areas. Surprisingly, new launches are gaining traction post-COVID. 26% of the survey's respondents will opt for homes in newlylaunched projects, which is an increase of 4% over the pre-COVID period.”

Equally surprisingly, there was a decrease in the preference for ready-to-move-in homes – a reduction of at least 17% since the lockdowns and 6% since the preCOVID levels. This is vouchsafed by data from ANAROCK's consumer sentiment surveys done before and during the height of the pandemic in May 2020.

"One major factor for this could be that post-COVID, new supply was largely by branded developers," says Puri. "Homebuyers consider it safe to buy from strong organized players. Also, there is limited inventory available in the ready-tomove category.”