Mumbai rental space, especially in the island city, has always been in great demand, as compared to that in any Tier 1 city in the nation.
However, with the coronavirus pandemic taking a grip on everything, the demand for renting residential properties has shrunk in some key areas in Mumbai, as tenants are now mostly looking for houses and paying guest facilities outside city limits, considering that most commercial establishments and offices are closed.
Meanwhile, in many key pockets of the city, rents have started to fall or tenants are renegotiating terms with landlords, which is indeed a rare phenomenon, according to experts in the industry.
In the island city, areas like Lower Parel, Girgaum, Dadar, Wadala and Sion were had a number of PG accommodations and hostel services for professionals and students. Being closer to the commercial zones of south Mumbai, people would rent apartments and PGs at this areas, to save commute time.
In the last couple of months, many of these tenants have begun to relocate in the suburbs while those who have been already living in the suburbs belt are moving to more affordable areas.
"People living in PGs in areas like Dadar, BKC, Mumbai Central and Worli have now started to shift to the suburban belts of Andheri and Goregaon," said a property agent and real estate expert, Niraj Koirala.
"People lived here to cut down on commute time. However, now that most of offices are closed, people are shifting to cheaper locations, instead of renewing their contracts, " said Koirala.
Due to this shift in preferences, there has been a dip in rents in most of the commercial zones of the city.
"At BKC, the monthly rent for a 1-BHK apartment would be not less than Rs 30,000. But now, it is Rs 20,000. The factor at work is nothing but reverse migration" said Sameer Soni, a property agent operating in the BKC and Bandra areas.
"Almost all the private companies have given their employees work from home option till the end of this year. Most of those from outstations have gone back home and the rest are unable to afford such high rents anymore because in areas like Navi Mumbai and Virar, the same apartment will be available for Rs 12,000, " Soni said.
Industry experts also pointed out, in the last few months, there has been rising demand for renting apartments in some areas in the MMR region. However, the rents have not gone up in these areas.
"People from the city are looking for areas in the outskirts, but the rents have not gone up in those areas because in many areas of MMR, the number of corona cases are high, so landlords and owners are quite apprehensive about hiking rents," said Amit Jain, an analyst at a property aggregator website.
"We have recorded an increase by 25 per cent in various areas like Bhandup, Mulund, Dombivli, Nalasopara, Panvel and Kharghar. The reason is property prices in these areas are considerably lower as compared to Mumbai, but as the case count in these areas are high, owners are apprehensive to increase rents" he explained.
