COVID-19, has had visible effects in many areas from our social life to the way we do business. This process, which also brought certain changes in purchasing decisions, created differences in real estate investment decisions. In this article, we will discuss the direction in which COVID-19 changed real estate preferences.
The coronavirus, which first appeared in Wuhan, China and spread and infected millions of people, adversely affected many country’s economies as well as human health. In addition to the hygiene measures taken, this process, brought social isolation and quarantines into our lives.
As the time spent at home has increased with long quarantine periods, our perspective on the place we live has also changed. So much so that purchases other than health products concentrated on home decoration and home textile products.
Renting villas in TRNC has become more popular replacing the demand for hotels that used to be frequently preferred for holidays. So how did COVID-19 change real estate preferences?
How did COVID-19 change real estate preferences?
Individuals who started to spend more time at home due to the pandemic have gained a new awareness of social space. Individuals no longer see their homes as just a place to meet their need for shelter, but as more of a living space that should meet a wider variety of their needs.
- While the demand for houses without balconies decreased, the demand for houses with detached land and gardens increased. Increasing demand has also increased the Cyprus house for sale prices.
- The interest in residence type apartments, with a lot of high floors and and many residents, has decreased.
- People working from their homes think that a study room is necessary in their new home.
- The concept of a “healthy home”, which includes completely natural materials such as marble, stone and solid wood, has become a trend.
- Proximity to health institutions gained importance in the decision of real estate investment.
- Demand for services that deliver orders via phone or app has increased. Individuals preferred the houses within the areas where this logistical support was provided.
- Houses with a lot of sunlight that offer a large and spacious living space started to be more widely preferred. Villa type residences with private pools and large gardens became a popular choice. This situation, which gained importance in rentals for holiday purposes, brought a slight increase in the Cyprus villas for sale prices.
- Individuals started living in their summer homes full-time.
COVID-19 has changed real estate preferences, not only at the level of individuals, but also on a sectoral basis. Due to the rapid differentiation of demands in different directions, the real estate sector also is acting in accordance with the changing demands.
How has COVID-19 change the real estate industry?
- With the decrease of face-to-face meetings, videos have gained importance as well as images for house sale advertisements.
- Online real estate consultancy has increased in prominence.
- The real estate sector has started to assign more importance to the distance of the houses to each other in the Cyprus real estate projects that they will implement.
- Many states have implemented digital projects that enable online title deed transfer. Individuals are now able to buy and sell houses digitally.
- Due to the lower course of real estate sales compared to other periods, taxes on real estate purchase and sale were reduced. The TRNC was one of these countries. (TRNC Title Deed Transfer Fees – Northern Cyprus Title Deed Costs 2021)
When we consider all these factors, it is fair to conclude that individuals now want to live in a healthier and more spacious living spaces, while the real estate sector is taking action in accordance with the changing preferences. Although there is no definite prediction about when the pandemic will end, we can see what has already changed in our real estate purchase decisions.
In this article, we discussed in detail how COVID-19 changed real estate preferences. If you would like to receive free support for real estate investment, you can contact us via the contact button at the bottom of the page.
