Millennial continue to prefer home ownership over renting, revealed CII-Anarock Covid-19 Sentiment Survey.

The survey findings were unveiled on Wednesday by CII and Anarock at the 3rd CII Real Estate Confluence themed ‘Indian Real Estate Vision 2025’ and conducted amidst deals, discounts and cheaper home loans.

The survey revealed that nearly 62 per cent of respondents considered it expedient to buy homes right away. About 24 per cent respondents have already booked properties (81 percent of this segment were previously unsure of buying) and 38 per cent opted for newly-launched projects. Of all respondents favouring real estate as an investment option, at least 48 per cent are aged between 25-35 years.

Popularity as investment asset

Real estate’s popularity as an investment asset class increased perceptibly post Covid-19. About 57 per cent respondents now favour property over fixed deposits, the stock market, and gold. 59 per cent property-favouring respondents were convinced after the pandemic unfolded, after riding the fence of uncertainty before Covid-19.

Anuj Puri, Chairman - CII Real Estate Confluence 2021 & Chairman – Anarock Property Consultants said, “The survey underscores the massive impact that the Coronavirus pandemic has had on home-buying decisions. The work-from-home and online education culture has resulted in buyers seeking larger homes, even if it entails moving to peripheral areas. Surprisingly, new launches are gaining traction post-Covid. 26 percent of the survey’s respondents will opt for homes in newly-launched projects, which is an increase of 4 percent over the pre-Covid period.”

Equally surprisingly, there was a decrease in the preference for ready-to-move-in homes – a reduction of at least 17 per cent since the lockdowns and 6 percent since the pre-Covid levels. This is vouchsafed by data from Anarock’s consumer sentiment surveys done before and during the height of the pandemic in May 2020.

Strong organised players

“One major factor for this could be that post-Covid, new supply was largely by branded developers,” said Puri. “Homebuyers consider it safe to buy from strong organised players. Also, there is limited inventory available in the ready-to-move category.”

In terms of consumer preferences, demand for bigger homes across all BHK configurations has risen post-Covid. 2BHKs continue to be the hot favourite; however, buyers are now also on the market for larger sizes. 69 per cent of the survey’s property-favouring respondents now prefer bigger 2BHKs (>600 square feet area) vis-à-vis just 38 per cent in the pre-Covid period. Previously, 62 per cent of buyers preferred compact 2BHK units sized within 600 square feet. area.

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