On a vibrant sunny day, Sunil is headed home from a swift grocery run. Lost in thoughts, he is walking towards his rental apartment considering about how he has been working from home for more than 15 months now. His enterprise has institutionalized WFH, and working from the workplace appears unlikely in the foreseeable future.
As he approached the entrance of his developing, he realized that the safety guard is nowhere to be seen and folks are moving in and out of the developing of their personal accord. He sighs at the absence of screening protocols in his apartment developing. He chooses to take the stairs rather of the lift, considering to himself if it is time to invest in a new home or home.
This sounds familiar, does not it? The post-COVID world has witnessed a definitive shift in homebuyer behavior. Facilitated by low interest prices, enhanced affordability, a considerably realistic pricing model and fuelled by the have to have for a protected haven, there is a rise in demand for prepared-to-move-in apartments from corporate and institutional developers.
The deciding things though buying home have also changed. Buyers are now more focused on safer indoor environments, with a renewed emphasis on overall health, security and wellness. The preference is tipping towards sprawling societies, self-adequate with ample open spaces, featuring wider corridors, functioning small business centres and contactless pathways.
Back home, Sunil is sipping on his cup of tea, staring out of the window, wishing his apartment had some sort of a roof deck exactly where he could study his morning newspaper though enjoying his tea in peace. And he decided to schedule a tour of the home that he has been eyeing. ‘It’s time’, he stated to himself!
Given the WFH norms, folks are spending more time with their households than ever ahead of, rather than spending just the time among 9 PM to 8 AM at home. This has made larger, effectively-planned apartment spaces with greater interiors and a committed study space a necessity. It also led to the realization that indoor greenery is as crucial as trees and shrubbery in the vicinity of your home.
As Sunil entered the gated society to have a tour of what could be his new home, the safety guards screened his body temperature and oxygen levels and contactless entry systems. He is impressed by the spacious lobby that has sanitizer dispensers installed at numerous points but what struck him the most was the wide staircases and the numerous touchless lifts the apartment developing featured. He is also impressed by the truth that when prepared the developing will use robotic cleaning machines that can detect, sanitize and clean. He also notices provisions for charging of electric automobiles.
It’s not just the home purchaser sentiments that have changed, true estate developers are maintaining up with the altering demands of the purchasers also. There is an enhanced focus on filtering out and destroying bacteria by working with anti-microbial supplies for building. Consistent efforts are becoming taken for generating the widespread places safer by incorporating as lots of contactless features as doable. New residential buildings will have greater sustainability features about water, waste and power management.
A gymnasium or a fitness club is not just a fancy facility any longer. Improved wellness requirements that nurture the physical, as effectively as emotional elements of life, have turn into a necessity. Creating safer, cleaner, and healthier living spaces for property owners is the best priority. The home purchasing method has also been streamlined with VR walkthroughs that lessen human interactions.
There is also focus on enhancing the telecom connectivity that caters to WFH scenarios and establishing sensible properties with home automation technologies. Yes, your home is evolving and transforming with you.
As quickly as Sunil stepped into the sample flat, he felt a sense of serenity wash more than him. Huge ceiling to floor windows, an outside terrace that overlooks the pool – this living area looked like some thing straight out of a magazine.
He was pleasantly shocked to understand about the touchless doors, showers and sanitary fittings in the bathroom operating on state-of-the-art sensor-activated technologies. A seemingly little modify that can have a rather enormous effect on the day-to-day lives of men and women sharing the home space.
The home was effectively lit naturally and sufficiently airy with a floor program that makes it possible for for wide, open places scattered all more than and landscaped windows and balcony. This home was almost everything that Sunil required it to be, and then some more. All he demands now is to finalize the space for his family and develop a home amidst the concrete structure.
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has provided ‘home’ a entire new which means. Having a home that you can contact your personal and fall back on through tumultuous instances like these has resonated with quite a few aspiring young home purchasers. The home has turn into a location of security. Given the travel restrictions, there has also been a steady rise in the demand for second properties in the outskirts – primarily trip or weekend properties, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Plot sales have also gone up as the specifications for little, sustainable properties with kitchen gardens have grown.
Today, every person is hunting to elevate their typical of living and by upgrading from a 1BHK to 1.5BHK or to a 2BHK and from 2 BHK to a 2.5 BHK or to a 3BHK and so on. After all, at the finish of the day, the space you occupy for 24 hours each and every day, should really really feel like a sanctuary, proper?
(By Ramesh Nair, Former CEO, JLL India)