Most of the homebuyers as well as the other stakeholders of India’s housing market share the sentiments of this homebuyers. The Reserve Bank of India has indeed surprised many while keeping the repo rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent at the beginning of the new fiscal year. Even a symbolic rate cut would have helped the market change its outlook towards the economy.
How was the festive season for property market this year? The answer depends upon whom are you addressing the question. For the large universe of the developers, it was worse festive season in the last 5-7 years. But for a few select listed developers, the fortunes are different. The ground reality of the market is that Diwali fireworks was definitely missing for Indian real in 2024, despite over optimism and influence peddling ahead of the festive season. Track2Realty analysis.
To say that the Union Budget 2024-25 has left the vast majority of home buyers in India pretty dissatisfied would be stating the obvious. Even though the built environment of the Indian real estate might find its own silver lining with the given budget, the vast majority of Indians feel this budget is going to hit their finances hard. What comes as a shocker to the perception at large is the fact that their primary dissatisfaction is not limited to the removal of indexation benefits, as perceived by the analysts.
If the removal of indexation benefits with Long Term Capital…
Immediately after the Union Budget 023-24, when Track2Realty had taken a principled position that it is going to hurt the Indian home buyers, many critics & self-proclaimed financial experts had questioned us. They were celebrating LTCG without Indexation and now very same set of people are again glorifying the dual option- with or without Indexation for deals before the Union Budget. How could one argue for both and against the motion? It is like batting for both teams in a game of cricket. Isn’t it?
In Bangalore, the cap rates for the logistics & warehousing assets continue to remain flat Q-o-Q with significant volume registered in lease transactions. Similarly, rental rates and capital values for Grade A commercial office segment have been flat with no significant change. Though interest rate regime is stable, the impact on the cap rate movement is limited due to transaction volumes and perceived risk not changing much.
As the Finance Minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman announced to lower the LTCG (Long Term Capital Gains) from 20% to 12.5%, the stock market took a hit. The analysts across the financial spectrum immediately swung into analysis that the LTCG hike would adversely affect the stock market in the short term but big pocket investors won’t be affected as much as presumed. A section of financial wizards who understand the nuances of personal finance across the asset classes had even bigger a worry – Real Estate. Prima facie what looked like the LTCG being lowered from 20% to now at 12.5%, has in fact hurt the property market the most. Reason: the indexation benefit under Section 48 that is presently available for property, gold, and other unlisted assets have been now proposed to be removed.
Between April and June 2024, residential supply witnessed the highest growth rate in the last 24 months, driven by the increasing availability of under-construction properties, shared the recently published PropIndex Report (April-June 2024) by Magicbricks, India’s leading real estate platform. According to the report, the supply of under-construction properties has increased by 11.7% QoQ, while prices have risen by 15.2% QoQ between April-June 2024. This surge has resulted in prices of under-construction properties surpassing those of ready-to-move properties in several cities such as Gurugram, Mumbai, Noida and Thane.
According to the report’s findings, Q1 2024 marked a discernible shift towards high-end properties among homebuyers. Notably, the share of properties priced at INR 1 crore and above in sales surged to 37%, a significant increase from the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, more than doubling in magnitude. During this period, there was substantial growth (50-55%) in demand observed within the INR 1-5 crore price bracket, closely followed by the INR 5-10 crore range, particularly evident in cities like Mumbai, Gurugram, and Bengaluru. This transition signifies a departure from purely budget-driven decisions towards properties that better resonate with buyers’ lifestyle preferences.
Owing to rapid industrial growth and the emergence of one of the fastest growing real estate segments in the country, India’s warehousing sector is set to cross the 300 million square feet (MSF) mark by 2025, according to a report jointly launched by CREDAI and CRE Matrix. Currently, the overall Grade A warehousing stock stands at 216.2 MSF. In Q1 CY ’24, India witnessed a 5% increase in rentals – reflecting how India’s warehousing demand continues to surpass supply – with the absorption to supply ratio standing at 1.4 in the quarter.