The COVID era has meant that online schooling and work-from-home are very much accepted and normalised. Even when it comes to home-buying, the process of finding the house has changed post the pandemic. Let’s read more about things that have changed in the residential real estate sector and are expected to remain so for a long time.
Digital adoption
COVID-induced lockdowns and restrictions in movements have compelled every sector to adopt a digital way of doing business. Prospective home buyers and sellers, tenants and landlords, intermediaries have been using realty portals and other tools for a few years now, but the pandemic has taken it to the next level.
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“In a mere 90 days, we have vaulted forward 10 years in consumer and business digital adoption. Real Estate has become the digital first sector,” says Anuj Puri, Chairman - ANAROCK Group. Some of the new technologies that real estate developers and professionals are extensively using now include virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and 3D programmes, and artificial intelligence (AI). Developers are using VR technology to enable potential home buyers take a virtual tour of the properties digitally via 3D apps.
Demand for bigger and better houses
People need more space at homes, especially because of online schooling and work-from-home. According to Square Yards’ online search trends, the demand for modern flexible room configurations such as 1.5BHK have seen a 54 percent rise post-COVID as compared to 1BHK, while 2.5 and 3.5 BHK houses clocked a 150 percent and 132 percent surge, respectively, across the top six cities. Homes that come with a 3BHK and plus, also witnessed a 150 percent uptick in demand since January 2021, with work-from-home and e-learning models, becoming the order of the day.
Further, as per a recent poll conducted by Square Yards research, 37 percent of homebuyers chose space/size of homes as an important factor while buying a home in the post-COVID era, while 25 percent looked at proximity to healthcare as a factor.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has ensued a paradigm shift in consumer behaviour, igniting a sense of immediate homeownership and fostering demand for spacious spaces that enhance the quality of life without compromising on the luxury quotient,” says Anupam Rastogi, Co-founder and Head NRI Sales, Square Yards.
According to Anarock, in the past two years, demand has skewed towards homes large enough to accommodate the new WFH and e-schooling realities, and the average sizes of new unit launches have risen by 26 percent.
Moving out of the city
Given the high capital values, lack of open space and high density within the cities, people are moving to the outskirts of the cities to afford bigger and better lifestyles. “The importance of health, hygiene and wellness has also shifted homebuyers’ attention towards the peripherals,” says Rastogi.
As per another poll by Square Yards, 56 percent homebuyers have considered buying a home in the suburbs where open spaces, greenery count and fresh air are in plenty. It has also spurred the need for second homes in natural surroundings that can break the mundane routine of day-to-day lives.
“Villas, farmhouses and second homes were in demand as buyers looked to purchase properties that offered superior social distancing and lower infection risk in less populated, greener environs. Also, with WFH being the new normal, people could work from anywhere,” says Puri.
Witnessing the demand, developers are also launching more projects in peripheries of metros. According to Anarock, peripheries witnessed increased traction with more than 60 percent launches in the suburbs.
Given that many companies are now adopting hybrid work models, online classes are now getting preferred, in most cases these trends in home buyers’ behaviour are expected to last for long.
