Millennials to drive home sales in post-COVID-19 period

Post the lockdown, as many as 1.70 lakh residential units are likely to be sold compared to 2.6 lakh last year and millennials will emerge as a new segment who would prefer to buy their first home over residing in a co-living  accommodation, a real estate expert has said.

"With the focus on social distancing norms, millennials would, going forward, prefer buying into a house rather than staying on rent in a co-living unit," said Amit Sinha, COO, Trespect, a real estate advisory firm, at a webinar on Changing Trends in Homebuying During COVID-19.

Millennials will see the benefits of purchasing real estate rather than staying on rent or staying in co-living units. There will be active participation from this segment going forward, he said.

It is because of this reason that co-living segment may experience stress. Millennials would prefer investing in homes  in the price range of Rs 40 lakh to Rs 45 lakh.

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The configuration that would be preferred by this segment would comprise smart homes that are less than 2 BHK which means that 1.5 BHK units with a study thrown in would witness traction going forward, Sinha said.

This segment would prefer buying into projects located close to their workplace as they may not want to reduce their dependence on public transport going forward, he said.

Trespect also said that branded real estate developers are expected to see traction post-COVID- 19. While these developers had a market share of 41 percent five years ago in 2015, it will increase to 60-65 percent by next year. Their corporate governance, adherence to quality standards and on-time delivery will be some of the crucial factors affecting this change.

As for real estate sales, nearly 25 percent of all homes sold by developers will be through various online platforms by October 2020, the advisory firm said.