Covid-19: Buying real estate is no exception

New Delhi, July 15 (IANSlife) Covid-19 has impacted both buyers and sellers in the real estate market. A recent survey conducted by real-estate portal, 99ares.com, reveals hard facts that everyone who is looking to either invest in a home or a property should be acquainted with.





Unlock 1.0 have revealed that there are a bout 65 percent of homebuyers in the market currently, out of which 77 percent's purpose is to buy the house for their own.

Although ready to move in properties still remain a favourite, however, the apprehension towards under-construction seems to be easing a bit with 64 percent of homebuyers preferring ready to move house in when compared to 74 percent in pre-Covid times.

Maneesh Upadhayaya, Chief Business Officer, said, "65 percent buyers are in-market now while only 38 percent were actively searching for houses post-Lockdown. In addition, buyers are still looking at real estate as the best asset to invest in. Covid-19 has further assisted in increasing the adoption of digital platforms with 55--60 percent buyers/tenants expressing a preference for virtual visits and meets. 99acres has been the first in the league to capture this trend and has come up with digital solutions like real-time video tours and webinars to help clients/consumers in their journey."

Buyers are seeing this as a good time to buy as of the 65 percent in the market currently, 32 percent are in the finalization stage, while 11 percent have have dropped the idea of buying a property due to job and market uncertainty.

Of the people who had selected a property to buy pre-Covid, majority of them have responded saying they are looking to close transactions in the next 3 months.

67 percent of homebuyers expect prices to go down significantly and another 20 percent foresee a slight reduction. 76 percent of tenants believe the rental prices will also fall in the coming times.

Proximity to key areas like market, hospitals, and school, as well as safety were a couple of aspects which have taken over the minds of buyers and tenants while shortlisting a property.

The digital adoption rate improves with 70 percent of the home buyers are now more willing to explore real estate portals. Moreover, 77 percent of tenants have also made a similar digital shift.

The need for physical visits still persists but only for finalizing and virtual tours will suffice for shortlisting, confirms 55 percent of the homebuyers and 60 percent of the tenants. In addition, 360 degrees self-exploratory tools topped as the most preferred option for virtual tours, followed by pre-recorded videos and live video calls with the seller.

(IANSlife Features can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

--IANS

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