Online searches of residential properties on the rise in India

HyderabadL Online searches for residential properties picked up pace in June 2021 over the previous two months with Delhi-NCR getting maximum traction indicating speedier rebound in the real estate sector as the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic abated, revealed a report by Housing.com.

After Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad stood in the list of top five cities with high online property search activities. Hyderabad rose one rank up in the index to reach fifth place in June over the previous month.

The real estate portal's IRIS (Indian residential index for online search) is a monthly index tracks potential buyers' activity in primary and secondary residential markets on the Housing.com. It has been created to give an in-depth view of buyer activity in India by tracking 42 key cities.

The IRIS inched up nine points in June after a slowdown in online searches for residential properties during April 2021 and May 2021.Compared to the past year, national online demand is up by 26 points year-on-year, despite a similar lockdown situation in both periods.

"As per our research, both online and offline trends hint at a speedier bounce back from the impact of the 2nd Covid wave, compared to the bounce back from the 1st wave last year," said Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, Housing.com, Makaan.com and PropTiger.com.

As suggested by IRIS trends, the demand in tier-2 cities has recovered more quickly than in the top-cities, demonstrating resilience during the pandemic, he added. "The index brings forth macro and micro level real estate market insights through the knowledge gathered from the search activity of millions of potential homebuyers on the Housing.com platform," saidMani Rangarajan, Group COO, Housing.com, Makaan.com and PropTiger.com.

The index will provide monthly insights on buyer activity as observed on Housing.com giving a comparative analysis at city and locality levels to homebuyers, sellers, agents, policy makers and real estate analysts.

The index shot up in June on the back of opening up of lockdowns as active Covid-19 cases subsided. The demand uptick in June 2021 and the ebbing of the second wave of the pandemic indicates a rise in demand in the coming months.

A majority of initial searches for buying a home takes place online and thus the online search trend is a leading indicator for developing offline homebuyer activity in a city in the near to mid-term. said Ankita Sood, Director and Head of Research, Housing.com, Makaan.com and PropTiger.com.

India was hit hard by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic during the second calendar quarter of 2021 leading to localised lockdowns in several parts of the country. The easing of lockdown is still under process in some parts.

The buyer demand in India is currently 18 points below the historic peak in September last year since the start of the data analysis. The demand was 27 points lower in May 2021 than the September 2020 peak.