Slowdown But Not A Recession

Parth Patel, Managing Director, Kavisha Group, Ahmedabad Briefs On The Current Scenario Of Gujarat Real Estate. WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT OF THE LOCKDOWN ON GUJARAT’S REALTY MARKET? The lockdown has definitely lead to a slowdown but not a recession. The residential segment is showing positive signs of growth irrespective of the said slowdown, probably because people are now more homebound, and are looking for better living spaces for their families. A house for people has evolved from a residential space to an investment avenue. Moreover, people have started looking for extra room or space and moving to the outskirts for a more peaceful living away from the hustle & bustle of the city. The retail & commercial space however have been harder hit due to the market upheaval. The Indian economy flourishes due to mid-sized business & showroom owners & the pandemic has definitely impacted their business. HOW ARE DEVELOPERS ADDRESSING CONSTRUCTION WORKERS SHORTAGE? This issue depends on geographical location, type of activity and the development stage of under construction site. The whole migrant labours shortage has led to a positive shift towards hiring local workforce. As on today for finishing pending work, the workforce is available from nearby districts of Gujarat and Rajasthan, so this takes care of the immediate requirement. Labour force for RCC frame work development comes from other states which has delayed this process. We are somehow managing to get specialised labour force from nearby areas. However, the trend for RCC work labour force is also changing due to the change in requirements as a result of the pandemic. HOW HAS YOUR COMPANY BEEN MANAGING PROJECT SALES? Our company has residential properties ranging from 40- 75 lakhs and commercial properties which include Mid-size showroom, officespace and pre-leased properties. All the products are performing well. We made several bookings during lockdown and have been receiving very good inquiry flow for all the projects. The conversion to visit ratio has improved a lot. We manage the sales mainly through the channel partners and to support them we were very consistent with our online & off-line marketing. We never made any lucrative offer in the open market. We always believed in fair market price and regular payment scheme which has helped us scale a strong position in the market.

SOME KEY AREAS WHERE THE GOVERNMENT CAN IMMEDIATELY PROVIDE RELIEF ARE, DECREASING THE STAMP DUTY RATES, SPECIAL BENEFIT IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING, LOWERING THE HOME LOAN INTEREST RATE, RELAXATION IN RERA NORMS & LOWERING INTEREST RATE IN CONSTRUCTION FINANCE TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING.