The COVID-19 pandemic has brought upon the human race unprecedented challenges, not just in the spectrum of protecting one's own health but across all aspects of our lives. But, fear not, as the saying goes every cloud has a silver lining, this ongoing crisis has also opened up opportunities for people. Even as the temporary shutdown has resulted in massive losses in the economy for businesses around the world, people with surplus cash and steady jobs can see this as an opportune moment to invest in real estate at a time when the financial markets have seen a steep fall.

The pandemic has certainly made everyone realise the importance of owning a home as it is way better than dealing with uncertainties of rented accommodation at a time when the economic state of the country is quite fragile.

Times like this also make people realise the importance of real estate as an asset class given the sharp decline in financial markets.

All these factors have made people realise the importance of buying a home as data collated by Dwello shows that demand for a new home has seen quite a bit of trajectory even at such trying times.

The government also is trying to help homebuyers achieve their dream of buying their own home even in such trying times, evident from the recent cut in repo rate by the Reserve Bank of India

The RBI, in its seventh bi-monthly monetary policy statement, on March 27 announced a 75 bps cut in repo rate along with 90 bps reduction in reverse repo rate to offset the impact of coronavirus pandemic on the economy. The cash reserve ratio of all banks was also reduced by 100 bps to 3 percent of net demand and time liabilities with effect from the fortnight beginning March 28, 2020, for a period of one year.

In simple terms, the reverse repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow money from the RBI, while the Cash Reserve Ratio is the total amount of cash deposit that banks have to maintain with the central bank. RBI's move to reduce both is to infuse liquidity in the system, with the reduction in both repo rates and cash reserve ratio, banks will have to pass on these rate cut benefits to their customers in the form of low-interest rates.

So far the country's largest lender State Bank of India has cut their interest rate to pass on the RBI cut benefit to their customers. On the basis of an earlier directive last year, SBI linked their home loan rate to the repo rate. Following the path of SBI, Housing Development Finance Corporation also slashed their retail prime lending rate on housing loans linked to the Adjustable Rate Home Loans by 15 basis points. The decline in the interest rate will benefit all existing HDFC retail home loan customers, the company said.

The prime lending rate is the rate at which commercial banks lend to their most trustworthy and creditworthy customers. The company's new rate is now in the range of 8.05-8.85 percent. In addition to low-interest rates, the RBI has also imposed a three-month moratorium period on loan payments for borrowers who wish to avail it. This move by the central bank will not only help homebuyers at a time when the economy is weak but will also help cash strapped builders. This EMI holiday will allow many homebuyers and builders to pull up their socks financially. To further help homebuyers, many developers are coming up with relaxed payment plans so that potential buyers do not have to derail their plans of buying a home given the current economic situation. Schemes where the buyer does not have to give any sort of payment for at least 18-24 months after a booking is being introduced by developers so that homebuyers get ample time to get back on their feet.

A lot of homebuyers are also concerned whether the ongoing lockdown due to the pandemic will also delay the possession of their homes? in order to be able to provide homes within the promised possession date, the government has also partially allowed under construction activities of certain projects to resume operations. The government on 15th April directed that construction activities for projects which do not fall under the COVID 19 hotspots zones can resume operations provided all safety and social distancing measures are being followed. This move is expected to give significant relief for projects which are stalled in areas that are not affected by the pandemic.

The directive by the government also mentioned that workers from outside could not be brought in for resuming construction. However, a lot of developers across the country have retained their workforce and have been providing all sorts of necessary assistance to workers so that they can stay back and start once the government orders for resuming operation begins. This will certainly make sure that the promised possession date is ensured. For projects in hotspot zones, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority extended the completion deadline for all registered projects by three months which comes as a major relief to developers.

One might also wonder that given the lockdown it is not possible for site scouting which is a very important step in the home buying process. To prevent the lockdown from being a hindrance to homebuyers from visiting property sites, developers are taking the help of virtual reality technology to service the need.

Typically, a client would visit multiple properties before deciding on the one they want. This requires a lot of time and things get complicated when leaving the house is not an option. VR technology helps solve these problems, allowing millions of people to virtually visit properties without leaving their homes. Simply put on a VR headset and you can experience immersive, three-dimensional walkthroughs of properties. In a matter of minutes, potential buyers are now able to virtually visit dozens of locations.

If truth be told, these are certainly very difficult times for the humankind and the economy, especially for the real estate industry, which was just healing itself from the blows of demonetisation and the implementation of the Goods and Services taxes. The coronavirus pandemic has come as another massive blow to the positive sentiment of investors. However human beings have always been able to seek and utilise opportunities out of every situation, therefore this Pandemic should not be the reason for you to put a lid on your home buying dreams, experts believe a falling interest rate backed by solid government measures at this moment, provides the best opportunity to buy a home.