New Delhi, Nov 28 : As the pandemic has significantly impacted operations of businesses and people's working model, housing preferences also have changed and the demand for holiday homes or second homes has increased in the past few months. According to Aditya Kushwaha, CEO & Director Axis Ecorp, the need for a perfect balance between work and personal life has fuelled the concept of a weekend retreat in a holiday home. "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of a holiday home or a second home has gained widespread acceptance. With most of the corporate professionals working from home, geography is no longer a constraint," he said. He also noted that from the investment perspective, second homes in non-metro cities are a relatively safe investment option with higher capital appreciation compared to homes in metros, especially during COVID-19, when alternative options such as mutual funds, shares have seen diminishing returns. These properties can be rented out to home-stays and tourism businesses, a booming market promising an assured and stable source of income to investors, Kushwaha said. He noted Axis Ecorp has witnessed a rise in demand from NRIs and has around Rs 50 crore worth of stock at its project 'Axis Blues' in Goa, since lockdown was announced in India. On the impact of the pandemic and the lockdown restrictions, he said that lockdown impacted the development and expansion plans of various players as most of the people were locked inside their homes and companies adopted work from home to keep their employees safe. "However, with the implementation of unlock, things are slowly coming back on track. Companies and developers are adapting to the new environment," he said. He observed that the nationwide lockdown imposed in March severely impacted the new launch activities as there was a shortage of labourers and supplies initially. However, a major component of workers stayed back and continued working, there was a ray of hope to complete projects. He said that the company expects sales at its Axis Yog Villa to reach Rs 70 crore by the end of next year. /IANS