Real estate sentiments hit historic low
With the COVID-19 crisis playing havoc on the economy and real estate sector, the24th Knight Frank - FICCI -NAREDCO Real Estate Sentiment Index Q1 2020 Survey shows that the current sentiments of the real estate stakeholders in India have dropped to an all-time low of 31in the first quarter (January – March) 2020.The survey further indicates that the ‘future sentiment score’ outlining the industries’ market expectations has also dipped well into the pessimistic zone at a score of 36 in Q1 2020 against the score of 59 in Q4 2019. The real estate sector that had just about started showing some signs of revival during the last quarter of 2019 has suffered a severe setback due to the COVID-19 crisis. A score of over 50 signifies ‘Optimism’ in sentiments, a score of 50 means the sentiment is ‘Same’ or ‘Neutral’, while a score of below 50 shows ‘Pessimism’. Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director of Knight Frank India said, “The pandemic has created an unprecedented condition which is impacting global markets and societies. There is already a severe shortage of liquidity due to the complete standstill that most economies have come to. Managing liquidity and sustaining through the length of this pandemic will be critical for economic survival in the post-pandemic era. The real estate segment specifically will have a longer journey to make. This crisis has retracted the end-user confidence to its lowest levels ever, which will push any kind of real estate purchase decisions to the distant future. The already ailing real estate sector has been crippled with this pandemic, making it imperative for government support to bring it back on track.”
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