Good Time To Buy Your Dream Home

The post-covid scenario has altered homebuyers’ preferences, with the work from home model prompting more and more people to invest in bigger houses in smaller cities

- Avneet Kaur

The pandemic has changed people’s perception of homeownership significantly. Those who already own a house are looking to buy a bigger one, with work from home (WFH) set to become the new norm. But, with the second wave of Covid-19 hitting the country hard, is it the right time to invest in a new house? Also, should you go for a property under-construction or look for a ready to move in one? Or, should you invest in real estate only for returns? A lowdown.

Back In Demand

With phased opening up, pent-up demand, the festive season of the previous quarter and the on-going vaccination drive, economic recovery is gaining momentum. It has pushed the real estate adoption significantly higher as well.

According to experts, demand went back to almost pre-Covid levels during January-March 2021. In fact, February and March were the best ever in terms of traffic in the history of online real estate portals such as Housing.com and PropTiger.com. But, with the onset of the second wave of the pandemic in April, property searches witnessed a slowdown. Experts, however, see it as a brief setback.

“We have seen an incredible growth in traffic, from 10.5-11 million per month to more than 25 million visits during March 2020-March 2021,” says Dhruv Agarwala CEO, Elara Group, which owns Housing.com, PropTiger. com and Makaan.com.

“As far as housing sales are concerned, we are seeing a temporary slowdown due to the rampant spread of Covid-19,” says Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Property Consultants. “The market will quickly regain an even keel once the vaccination drive picks up pace and the health infrastructure crunch abates.”

Changing Trends