With the announcement of a nationwide lockdown and shutting down of offices, the trend of work-from-home caught up. And while many companies invested in workstations that could help employees to set up their home offices, others invested in software to keep a track of their productivity.
The ‘new normal’ as everyone called it, hampered the real estate business as the majority of the startups closed down due to insolvency and lack of funds, while others were unable to pay off their rentals.
According to experts, nearly 6.3 million Sq Ft of office spaces has capitulated due to no-occupancy and insufficiency of paying rents.
Bangalore saw the major surrendering with 7 other big cities on the list.
Many assumed that their inventories of commercial office space will be ruptured or go on a stand by mode. But, this was just a misconception.
The growth of these spaces went steady but there was no downfall. The demand and supply chain is still maintained.
However, aggrandizement in the demand for larges spaces is anticipated.
The momentum might be slow right now, but as the lockdown is being uplifted the demand will up the pace. The consumer base of small office spaces will now be looking out for an upgrade to keep up with the government guidelines of maintaining the social distancing.
The companies occupying a space of 60-70 Sq Ft are now reaching out for the mark of at least 150 Sq Ft.
- There are several reasons to prognosticate this boosting:
- Need for larger spaces in lieu of maintaining social distancing.
- The necessity of commercial space to boost up the sales target.
- Requiring double workspace to cope up with the losses incurred.
- The real-estate always bounces back after such crises.
- High demand for office space from the metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Banglore.
The recent restructuring of the loans by RBI and New-age retail investors raising stakes of over 170 companies is a piece of positive news for all.
Also, the bank relaxing the interest rate on personal loans (home loans) is a point of consideration in this direction.
Being a realtor for over 12 years, one thing I have learned is that there can never be a downfall in the real-estate business. Whenever there is an economic crunch our sector has always boomed. There have been different reasons for it.
While everyone thought that this pandemic might have a major hit on our business the figures speak a different story. Everyone is looking for virtual office space or residential property.
As they say, all a man needs are food, roof, and clothes. Hence, these sectors will never go down.
The property swap opportunities have opened an array of prospects. Hence, we could say lock-down might have slowed the pace but the pick-up will be accelerated once everyone will step out of their houses for resuming their work