The year 2021 started with a mild relief to the industry, with the government pitching to support the developers and introducing various relaxations. The decreased stamp duty by the state government in until March 2021 set a path for the property owners and developers. As the pandemic started gaining momentum, the industry witnessed a setback for a short while with multiple trends flowing in that kicked off the market.
New launches dispatches were back in the market as the industry saw expanding interest for bigger homes with the predominant work-from-home culture, wherein the units with additional room and decks arose as the best-performing classification.
After the arrival of the second wave of the COVID-19 in March-April, the whole of Maharashtra along with other states was under massive losses of lives and businesses. There was slow or no financial movement in many parts of the states and in addition putting sudden brakes on the real estate industry.
The industry witnessed increased numbers of engagement happening on the digital platforms as clients were quite comfortable having initial information and project walkthrough through virtual tours.
Soon after the vaccination drives took pace, the industry started growing in terms of new improved launches as per the market demands and financial inflation for the better of the sector. The unwinding in lockdown controls saw the purchasers visiting the property physically for inquiries. We promptly saw the volumes of deals returning to ordinary because of a lift in the lockdown and relaxation on interestsby the Government.
The need for possessing a home, low home loan costs alongside different payment plans from developers helped property purchases since July and October recording the highest property sales.
People who generally opted for rental as a choice began searching for a getaway from a deep-rooted rental web and understood the significance of possessing a home. These elements assisted the huge market drive and helped pent-up deals during the festive season during the current quarter and were the key in freeing the real estate landscape of the ills brought about by the pandemic.
Outlook for 2022
In spite of the pandemic exigencies in 2021, the residential housing gradually picked up momentum as compared to other segments. The disturbance brought about by the pandemic is easing back and the housing market is relied upon to recover its musicality in the following few quarters, since, the dangers of the new variant are enough contained with the least interruption in the early part of the New Year.
We shall anticipate with the Government to extend further relaxations and benefitting incentives that will only help better the sector in 2022. Incentives like the Introduction of tax benefits will help in increasing public spending with less transaction cost. Various supply and demand patterns assessed over the last decade have already started putting upward pressure on residential property prices.
Residential sales momentum is expected to continue in 2022 as prospective homebuyers’ preferences for bigger homes, better amenities and attractive pricing will keep them interested to seal the deals. Well-known and trusted developers shall be witnessing comparatively better sales in the mid-income and affordable housing segments and shall continue to dominate in 2022 as well.
(Pritam Chivukula isCo-Founder & Director, Tridhaatu Realty and Hon. Secretary, CREDAI MCHI)
