Studio apartments rapidly dwindling since the onset of the pandemic, shows ANAROCK study

The overall supply share of studio apartments has been dipping across the top 7 cities since 2020, showed a recent report published by real estate company ANAROCK. The study revealed that out of 1,063 projects launched in H1 2022 across these 7 cities, only 91 projects offered studio apartments -- a mere 9 per cent share. In contrast, of the 1,921 projects launched in 2019, around 368 projects (or 19 per cent) had studio apartments.

According to the survey, in 2020, the share was 15 per cent -- which means of 884 projects launched in the year, approximetely 130 projects offered studio apartments, whereas in 2021, the number came down to 145 projects offering studio apartments out of 1,207 launched projects. As per ANAROCK, the year-on-year (YoY) decline is a significant trend reversal. In essence, between 2013 and 2019, the share of new projects offering studio apartments showed a YoY increase – from 4 per cent in 2013 to 19 per cent in 2019.

Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Group, said, "The studio apartment configuration - single rooms serving as bedroom-cum-living room with kitchenette and an attached bathroom - was among the most popular configurations before Covid-19. Once seen as ideal starter homes, they drew considerable demand from bachelors, business travellers visiting the city frequently for work, and young couples. What they lack in size, they often make up on location - studio apartments are most evident in pricey locations around key employment hubs."

“The rapid reversal of this trend after Covid-19 is indicative of the major socio-economic changes that have occurred due to the pandemic. Of 2,102 projects launched in the top 7 cities in 2013, just 75 projects had this option. After that, their availability in projects grew consistently, peaking at 19 per cent in 2019," Puri added.

City-wise Trends

The studio apartments trend is historically the strongest in West India, with Mumbai and Pune predominantly driving the trend. Of the total projects with studio apartments launched in the top 7 cities between 2013-2020, Mumbai and Pune together accounted for a massive 96 per cent share, the survey mentioned.

In contrast, the southern cities of Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad never really caught the studio apartment wave -- just 34 projects in these three cities had this compact configuration in the same period.