The festive season is on in full swing and with lights and glitter the excitement amongst people is also going up. Interestingly, this year the real estate market is expected to a go up substantially during the festive season.
According a 2022 Housing Price Tracker Report, by The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), Real Estate Consultant Colliers India, and Liases Foras, there has been an increase in residential demand in eight cities - Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Delhi-NCR, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Ahmedabad. The report also highlights that the demand has led to an increase of 5% in prices and a marginal decline in unsold inventory during the April-June quarter. It also predicts that the demand for residential properties as well as price rates will continue to grow further in the next eight months.
Experts believe that this year the buyer sentiment is at a record high that is why even a hike in prices will not deter buyers in any way. Furthermore, home loan interest rate is at a historic low. The property prices are stable with minimal fluctuation and the homeownership sentiment is also enhanced in people post Covid-19. All these reason further add up to the surge in property sale this year.
A recent report by PropTiger.com states that home sales as well as new launches increased during July and September 2021, indicating a better time for the realty market. The report also stated that a total of 55,907 new housing units were sold in India’s eight leading markets during the three-month period, displaying an increase of 59% as compared to the same period in 2020. Likewise, new supply also saw a remarkable upswing in Q3, showing a three-fold jump of 228% to 65,211 units when compared to Q3 2020.
The festive season has always been a harbinger of increased sales in India because of three major reasons. First and foremost, the time from Ganesh Chaturthi till Diwali is considered auspicious because a lot of Hindu festivals happen around this time. Since time immemorial, Hindus prefer to buy valuable like gold, silver and property during this time. It is believed to a symbol of prosperity and opulence. From past some time, the interest in gold and other metals have decreased because of fluctuation in the price of these commodities, so people prefer to invest in property.
The second important reason is the increased traction in market during this time is the lucrative offers and deals rolled out by real estate developers. The deals are offered citing the rise in demand so this is basically interdependent. As a result, buyers get good deals and offers during the festive season, thus enhancing the sale numbers during this time.
Another important reason is that a lot of new properties are launched during this time of the year so buyers get immense options to choose from and invest in.
This year, an added reason of the spike in the expected sale is the Covid-19 outbreak. The priorities shifted post the pandemic, mind-set changed, people started prioritising things in a different manner, what was earlier considered secondary became primary. In a sense that earlier a lot of people never realized the importance of owning a home they were just fine spending their lives in rented places, but Covid-19 showed the vitality of having one’s own home and the security that comes along. As a result, the sale of residential properties skyrocketed post after the lockdown was lifted.
The pandemic also lead to some major shifts in the paradigm as far as property market was concerned. People started to look for spacious and bigger properties even if they were in the outskirts. Earlier most of them wanted homes in hotspot areas close to markets and malls and public transport. Today, houses in outer periphery of the city are much in demand. Similarly, people are now looking for sustainable places that adhere to the green building norms.
So, be it a property in the middle of the city or in the outer area, the sale is expected to definitely go up during the festive season. Experts also believe that the slight hike in price will not really lay any emphasis as far as buyers’ mind-set is considered.
(Vipin Mittal is CEO Projects, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat India)
