The near future looks challenging for an already struggling industry, freshly hit by the halts caused by Covid-19
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Ghost towns across the country narrate a tale of sorrow for residential real estate—of stalled projects, a liquidity crunch, investors running away from residential realty, developers even being taken to bankruptcy court by buyers and lenders. The going has become tougher for developers, as lending shrunk by 31 percent during the 2019 calendar year, shows data compiled by Propstack, a real-estate data platform. With the onslaught of novel coronavirus pandemic, construction has come to a halt, further affecting developers substantially. In 2019, bank lenders and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) together lent Rs 1.27 lakh crore to developers, the lowest in five years, whereas lending had been on an upward curve since 2015. (See chart)