New Delhi:  Around 90 per cent of prospective homebuyers expect prices to fall due to adverse impact of COVID-19 outbreak, according to a survey by real estate classified platform 99acres.com. 

According to the survey, 40 per cent of the total prospective homebuyers, who were searching flats for purchase before lockdown, have postponed their plan while 60 cent are still keen to buy within the next 12 months.
 
Major reasons for delaying their plan to buy were uncertainty in the market (56%) and financial factors (30%), the realty portal said in a statement.
 
The survey has been conducted with a sample size of around 1,761 prospective homebuyers from major cities including Delhi (NCR), Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow. 

The study covered four key parameters in the real-estate industry such as buyer's demand, investment perception, pricing expectations, and new consumer trends. 

"60% of the Indian homebuyers who were in-market looking to buy a house before the pandemic are still planning to buy their homes within a year," the company said.
 
"Post the pandemic, a very significant share (90 per cent) of real-estate buyers expect a price correction," it added. 

In the survey, 31 per cent respondents felt that real estate is still the best option to invest followed by fixed deposit (24%), gold (24%), and stock market (21%). 

The prospective homebuyers showed preference towards ready-to-move-in properties with 85 per cent of buyers saying completed units are safer than an under-construction property. 

What's interesting to forecast with our rich consumer knowledge and data analytics is the big shifts in the next six months or so. Faster rate of adoption of digital avenues for home search, and more use of virtual tours of properties will likely emerge as big trends in the home buying industry," 99acres.com Chief Business Officer Maneesh Upadhyaya said.