Green shoots visible in realty sector

New Delhi: The Covid-19 pandemic affected the residential property market during the April-June period last year, but sales have improved in affordable homes segment since July onwards, reflecting economic recovery in the real estate sector, according to the Economic Survey.

The National Housing Bank's (NHB) Housing Price Indices (HPIs) are a broad measure of movement of residential property prices observed within a geographic boundary. The NHB-RESIDEX captures two housing price indices - HPI@ Assessment Prices and HPI@ Market Prices - Under Construction Properties based on the data available for 50 cities with quarterly updation.

The housing price index HPI @ Assessment Prices is based on valuation data collected from primary lending institutions, while HPI @ Market Prices for under construction properties primary and secondary data is collected through market survey.

"The total number of transactions for HPI@Assessment Price reduced by 71 per cent from March 20 to June 20 on Q-o-Q (Quarter-on-Quarter) basis while on Year-on-Year basis transactions reduced by 67 per cent from June 2019 to June 2020, indicating that Covid-19 crisis has significantly impacted the residential real estate market. New listings were down significantly and buyers also reduced their home buying activity," the survey said.

However, during the quarter July to September 2020, transactions for HPI@Assessment Prices have increased by around 150 per cent on Q-o-Q basis. "...thus, it is observed that sales have retrieved in affordable segments, reflecting economic recovery in the real estate sector," the document said.