The second wave of Covid-19 during April and May gave a bigger blow to the healthcare system in India. The number of cases and deaths have been reportedly higher compared to the first wave of Covid-19 in 2020. To combat the crisis this time, the government in each state instructed systematic and localised lockdowns rather than opting for a complete shutdown in the country.
As a result of stringent guidelines and actions taken by the various state governments, the second wave lasted for only two months and the condition has begun to fall back to normal. The Covid-19 affected the work of real estate as well in its second wave. However, the damage is a minor one with site visits taking a back seat and a slight drop in housing sales.
Real estate did not succumb gravely to the effects of second wave
The housing demand remained consistently huge during and after the first wave as is pretty evident with the recorded sales. Unfortunately, the unexpected blow of the second wave of Covid-19 resulted in the decline of housing sales in top cities like Bengaluru, MMR, Pune, and NCR. Nonetheless, the real estate developers believe that the second wave had a limited impact on the sector and they look forward to gaining some recovery in the third quarter of this year.
Commenting on the same, the CEO of AlphaCorp, Mr Ashish Sarin says, “Today, the second wave of Coronavirus has imbued uncertainty in the sector, resulting in a temporary pause, but the developers are now better prepared and well-versed with the know-how of a pandemic. The Indian real estate sector is now a buyers’ market and the ongoing inoculation program is boosting the confidence of homebuyers. It is most likely that the sector will resume its growth from the second quarter of FY 2021. We will see a steady flow of investments that will ensure growth opportunities with higher returns. The halt will be short-term and cheers and confidence in the market will return as soon as the Covid curve gets slowed”.
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Digitally-enabled marketing activities in real estate keeps the sector ever-ready
People are well-aware of the severity of the current situation and thereby, refrain from going out of their homes unless it's too important. The developers have cautiously delayed new project launches. In such a rare helpless situation, the digitally-enabled marketing activities in real estate have held up the spirit of work continuity.
The sector which a few years back had adapted to the new ways of interacting with the customers and selling them properties is now going strong and showing the fruits of its digital infrastructure. The VP-Customer Engagement and Distribution, Mr Abhishek Pandey of Viridian RED says, “The real estate sector has staged an impressive growth in 2021, but the second wave of Coronavirus has impacted the pace. Health and well-being are the topmost priority and in such a case, companies have been banking on digital tools and platforms. They are focusing on virtual tours and digitally-enabled marketing activities. It is quite speculated that some of the transactions and deals might be put on hold owing to obvious reasons. though this is not likely to impact the sector in the long run. The real estate sector is better prepared now and has already adapted to digital tools. Rapid inoculation drives are also boosting confidence and the situation is not as bad as it was in April 2020. The impact is likely to be felt till the second quarter of FY2021, after that we hope that the situation starts improving giving thrust to the sector”.
At the end of the day, the real estate developers are treating the impact of second wave of pandemic as a mild stumble. They are determined to bounce back shortly.
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