A large majority of the HNIs are proposing to buy property in the next two years reflecting a strong and decisive turnaround in the luxury real estate segment, revealed a survey conducted by India Sotheby's International Realty.
The survey elicited responses from over 200 HNIs and UHNIs to gauge the mood of the luxury home buyer across India’s top 8 cities -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and Goa.
Out of the 76 per cent who responded in the affirmative to buying real estate in 2022, 89 percent said they would look to buy Residential Real Estate vis-a-vis 11 per cent who opted for commercial real estate. This translates to 67 per cent of the respondents wanting to buy luxury homes, going forward.
Lifestyle upgrade
"An overwhelming 67 percent of respondents said they would look to buy luxury residential real estate in 2022. On the key motivation to buy another property, 46 percent of the respondents said, the biggest reason for them to buy property in the pandemic years was a lifestyle upgrade. About 31 per cent of HNI’s also said the biggest motivation to buy real estate in the last 18 months was ‘a good investment opportunity’, reflecting the emergence of bullish outlook that HNIs have on luxury real estate and their expectation of home prices to rise,” said Sotheby's Luxury Housing Outlook-2022.
City apartment trumps
Within the choices of buying residential real estate, a city apartment continued to top the charts with 34 per cent saying they would look to buy a bigger city-based apartment. On the other hand, more than 1/4th of the respondents (29 per cent) expressed their desire to acquire a holiday home.
"This remains one of the biggest aspirations for the HNIs, a change we see as significant” observed Amit Goyal, CEO of India Sotheby’s International Realty.
Goyal further said, “The fact that people picked “a good investment opportunity, as a strong reason for buying luxury real estate points to a bullish outlook on luxury home prices. Unlike some of the developed countries, where the price increase frenzy seems to be cooling off, in India, I believe, we are at the start of a secular price rise. We expect low-rise homes in the thriving urban centers, especially in Delhi NCR and Mumbai, and the vacation home destination of Goa, to be the outperformers of 2022."
Luxury city apartment or villa for Rs 10-Rs 25 cr preferred
As regards the money the HNIs are willing to shell out on another property, the maximum response was received for a luxury city apartment or villa were for the price range of Rs 10 - 25 crore with 69 per cent respondents picking this bracket.
The sweet spot of pricing for a luxury “holiday home” was between Rs 5-10 crore with as many as 71 per cent of respondents opting for this price band. About 29 per cent of the respondents were even willing to spend more than Rs 10 crore for the right vacation home.
'Work from Home' findings
The survey was completed before the onset of the third wave of Omicron surge, but it clearly showed that the hybrid work model is here to stay. Almost, 65 percent of the respondents answered, they do not see themselves going back to the physical office, all 5 days of the week. "This is a clear indication that the desire to upgrade homes will remain a big motivator in 2022," the survey found.
The survey also revealed that 28 percent of the HNIs had gone back to the office - full time, prior to the third wave of COVID. Almost half of the respondents though, continue to be in a “hybrid” work mode, spending anywhere between 1-4 days working from home. Also, about 15 percent seem to have made a complete switch to “work from home” – which was negligible in India, pre-pandemic.
Real estate agents/advisors were the top choices for HNIs when it comes to the source of information for decision-making on buying real estate in India. However, information gleaned from the internet is catching up as a strong source of information for HNI’s when it comes to real estate buying decisions.
