News: Pandemic-induced slowdown sees home prices in India decline by 1.9% year-on-year-15-09-2020

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/property-/-cstruction/pandemic-induced-slowdown-sees-home-prices-in-india-decline-by-1-9-year-on-year/printarticle/78123882.cms

BENGALURU: Home prices in India declined by 1.9% year-on-year (YoY) in India during Q2 of 2020, according to a global house price Inde. As compared to Q1 2020, India moves down 11 spots in the global index, from 43rd rank to 54th rank in Q2 2020, in terms of appreciation in residential real estate prices. Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India said, “The residential sector has been impacted by low demand across most markets in India. Further, the slowdown due to the pandemic in the global economy has adversely aected the real estate sector and the purchasing power of homebuyers.” In the 12-month percentage change for the period Q2 2019 - Q2 2020, Turkey led the annual rankings with prices up 25.7% YoY, followed by Luxembourg at 13.9% YoY and Lithuania with 12.4% YoY. Hong Kong was the weakest-performing territory in Q2 2020, with home prices fallen to 2.8% YoY. Mainstream residential prices across 56 countries and territories worldwide rose at an annual rate change of 4.7% on average, compared to Q1 2020 at 4.4%. According to the report, 9% of the surveyed global countries and territories registered a decline in a yearly price growth; European countries occupy eight of the top 10 rankings in Q2 2020, which provides representations from the Baltic and Central and Eastern European nations as well. ”Whilst a lot will depend on when the economy opens up completely, the current softening of prices can be benecial for the end-users to make their purchase decisions. Further, lower home loan interest rate, can provide the right motivation for house purchase, ” said Baijal.

From the Asia Pacic region perspective: New Zealand and South Korea, which were initially seen to have eectively handled the pandemic, have registered mixed results. New Zealand slumped from second to 11th place in the rankings between March and June. However, the country recorded annual price growth of 9%, making it the top-performing market of Asia Pacic region. South Korea, where annual price growth was weak at 0.1% in Q1 2020, has seen an annual price growth pick up to 1.3% in Q2 2020. The Global House Price Index tracks the movement in mainstream residential prices across 56 countries and territories worldwide using oicial statistics.