Virtual site tours to boost real estate sector

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, June 2

With families spending more time at home during the lockdown, realtors have noticed a rising interest among buyers to own property.

Manav Narula, proprietor of Kohinoor Property Studio, said though the past two months had witnessed a slowdown in the real estate business across the country, low interest rates and a weaker rupee at present have been contributing in changing the mindset of investors.

He said non-resident Indians (NRIs) stranded here for over two months now had been asking for digital presentations and making up their mind to invest in residential property. Besides, the lockdown had forced service class people to think of buying own home and pay EMIs instead of rent, he added.

“Be it builders, contractors and realty players, all of us have been hit like any other sector due to the lockdown. But I strongly feel it is a short-term disruption and the situation will improve soon depending on how long the economy takes to revive. However, once the economy bounces back, we will see a sharp recovery in the residential real estate sector because affordability is at all-time high. But the same could not be said for commercial property as it will take time to revive,” Narula said.

On being asked what new trends he has adopted to attract the buyers, he said almost all realtors and builders had been opting innovative campaigns to promote their projects across digital platforms. “We are focusing more on digital presentations and virtual site tours, so that buyers get 80 per cent idea of the project while sitting at their homes", he said.

He said since the business had reopened, he had received good numbers of enquiries online. "As work from home becomes more relevant, demand for larger spaces have increased. In fact, being locked up in homes for two months has changed people's mind, with clients not willing to live with compromises. Thus, a rebound in residential property is expected very soon," he said.

When questioned if the lockdown will hit the prices of property in the state, Manav said for the time no changes in the prices were expected understanding the sentiments of the buyers. However, the situation might not be the same as there had been an increase in the cost of raw material as India imported steel, iron products, plastic and fibre from China. Thus, after the period of six to eight months, the rates might go up, he said.