The COVID-led lockdown had a huge impact on Indians’ decision to buy a property, and it was also to blame for modifying the criterion for renting a home. The initial real rental market for real estate in India dropped due to an increasing emphasis on Work-from-Home (WFH) manner of living, as well as those who continued to use WFH in their hometowns rather than in their hometowns renting properties close to work.
A study reveals the important trends in 2020-21 that could become the new normal for renting a property in the future.
1. Trends in Pricing
With the entire economy collapsing and people’s income levels falling, as a result, there was a noticeable trend for cheaper homes in 2021 as compared to 2019-20.
In the country as a whole, more than 75% of tenants looked for properties renting for less than Rs. 25,000 per month. Only 7% of tenants sought properties renting for more than Rs. 40,000 per month.
2. Trends in furnishing
People are increasingly choosing to paint and furnish their homes according to their tastes and preferences. Therefore, there will be relatively few takers for fully furnished properties on rent in 2020-21. Approximately 73% of the tenants were found looking for unfurnished or semi-furnished homes.
3. Dimensions and Layout
In 2020-21, there was an increase in demand for larger homes as WFH and all other activities such as schools, hobbies, shopping, social events, and so on moved online. In India, searches for 3BHK and higher rental increased to 27 percent of total demand in 2020.
4. Co-living spaces
Co-working spaces, like co-living spaces, encourage sharing a work environment and the amenities that come with it. The co-working business sees a silver lining in all of the COVID-induced changes in corporate India. They anticipate that corporates of all sizes will prefer co-working spaces versus renting or leasing office space to achieve the much-needed flexibility and savings. Analysts also anticipate that renting by co-working operators would grow by 41% in 2021-22.
However, when the lockdown was lifted, and the country returned to an open period, rental transactions were witnessed returning to the real estate market, albeit with modified search parameters and tenant preferences.
