BENGALURU: Housing rents have fallen by 10 to 15 per cent in parts of Bengaluru and other cities following the disruptions caused by the pandemic. A number of properties, especially flats, are vacant as tenants who left for their hometowns to be safe from the Covid-19 surge, cope with financial instability or avoid getting stuck in lockdown are yet to travel back.
The monthly rent for a 4-BHK (bedroom-hall-kitchen) in Dollars Colony-RMV Extension Stage 2 has come down from Rs 50,000 in March 2020 to Rs 45,000. Nearby, in RT Nagar, a 3-BHK independent house that was earlier available for a monthly rent of 35,000 is now offered for 31,000. It’s the same situation in the suburbs and tier 2 cities. The rent for a 4-BHK apartment in Hoodi near Whitefield is around Rs 21,000, down from Rs 25,000 that was charged before the Covid-19 outbreak.
A 2-BHK house in Vijayanagar 1st Stage, an upmarket locality in Mysuru, commanded Rs 25,000 a month before. The current rate is Rs 19,000. Rents have also decreased in Mangaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Belagavi and Kalaburagi.
Farook Mahmood, the chairman and managing director of Silverline Realty, said that Bengaluru had seen a dip in the range of 10 to 15 per since March last year, linking the trend to job losses, salary cuts, falling business and oversupply of rental apartments.
But rentals have not been affected in areas such as Indiranagar, Jayanagar and Sadashivanagar. “There has been minimal impact on big-ticket properties [Rs 2 lakh or above rent per month] in Bengaluru. The vacancy level at these properties has been below 10 or 15 per cent, and therefore, their rentals have been largely unchanged,” said Shabeer Sait, the executive head of operations at Irshads Property Matters. He added that occupancy of rental properties available for Rs 1 lakh or less had decreased.
During the first wave of Covid-19, the vacancy level hovered around 10 to 15 per cent. It’s now gone up to 25 per cent, according to some property consultants. Many landlords have put up to-let boards in Bengaluru and Mysuru as they struggle to find tenants.
“Landlords were not ready to reduce rents during the first wave. They have realised now that there is no point in waiting for higher rents as senior professionals and company executives are facing salary cuts. There is uncertainty in the job market, so people are reluctant to lease properties with high rent,” said GN Rishikesh, a property owner and consultant in east Bengaluru.
CREDAI Bengaluru secretary Errol Fernandes said that the retail space was also seeing a 10 to 12 per cent downward revision in rents. “Landlords who took loans to develop their buildings are under pressure from banks as repayments are falling short,” Fernandes said.
