Online searches on Magicbricks portal for rental housing up 16% in Jan-Mar

Real estate portal Magicbricks on Tuesday said online searches on its platform for renting housing properties increased 15.8 per cent during the January-March period compared with the previous quarter.

"In Q1 2022, the total rental housing demand (searches) in the cities tracked by Magicbricks jumped by about 15.8 per cent QoQ (quarter on quarter) and 6.7 per cent YoY (year-on-year), while the cumulative supply (listings) witnessed a growth of 30.7 per cent QoQ and 101.5 per cent YoY," Magicbricks said in a report.

The company tracks Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Greater Noida, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Noida, Pune and Thane.

The pan-India rental rates witnessed a growth of 4 per cent QoQ, displaying improved strength of the rental housing market in the country.

"With a milder than expected Covid-19 third wave and extensive vaccination drives, many offices had rolled out hybrid working plans from the beginning of this year.

"They started with bringing employees back to the office at least two to three times a week. As a result, many employees returned to the metros from their hometowns, and the rental housing market saw a sharp demand recovery in the first quarter of the year," Sudhir Pai, CEO of Magicbricks, said.

With educational institutions also opening up, he said, many families and college/university students have started returning to the metros.

"We expect this trend to continue for the next few quarters as offices move towards higher occupancies and operations, leading to an improved rental housing market as well," Pai said.