News Point: The consumer sentiment in the Indian real estate market has hit lowest in the last 10 years (since 2007 downturn), finds Track2Realty Consumer Confidence Report 20:20.
The Consumer Confidence Report 20:20 finds that the developers who have been focused on the buyers with quality projects and meaningful dialogue have been rated higher by the consumers at a pan-India level.
However, the large universe of the developers has been voted negative by the consumers. As a matter of fact, out of the total 500 developers nationally that were shortlisted for evaluation, the buyers across the country dismissed as many as 412 developers as totally unreliable and worth avoiding. Only 88 developers have been voted by the consumers with some level of trust.
The first of its kind report after comprehensive study on consumer psychology in the Indian real estate finds that there are only 7 real estate developers who could earn ‘Positive Outlook’ by the consumers at a pan-India level. 5 of these developers are from South Indian real estate market and 2 from the Mumbai market, including Godrej Properties that stands out as the only corporate conglomerate in the Indian real estate that enjoys a pan-India positive outlook by the consumers.
The 5 South Indian developers with ‘Positive Outlook’ are Sobha Ltd, Prestige Group, Brigade Group, Embassy Group and Puravankara. Mumbai-based Oberoi Realty also commands ‘Positive Outlook’ on part of the buyers. Embassy Group is the only commercial real estate developer to be among the top 5 on the consumer confidence.
Overall, there are only 17 developers to have been voted with ‘Positive Outlook’ by the consumers. Other than the 7 nationally recognized brands, rest 10 developers are strongly positioned in their core markets to win consumer confidence with a positive outlook. These developers are DLF, ATS, Mahagun, K Raheja, Hiranandani, Omkar Realtors & Developers, Ambuja Neotia, South City Projects, Srijan and Tata Housing.
Sobha Ltd has yet again been voted as the top ranked developer by the consumers across the country. Though the margin of difference between the top 7 developers has not been very huge this time, yet Sobha could clinch the top honours. On a neck and neck level, it has been interesting that on none of the defined parameters of evaluation Godrej Properties at Number 2 could beat Sobha Ltd this time around.
Despite of lesser margin between Godrej and Sobha, it has been interesting to note that for the first time Sobha could outscore its nearest competitor on every given parameter of evaluation.
The parameters of evaluation have been Timely Delivery; Construction Quality; Matching Promises; Value4Money; Peer Endorsement; Trust & Transparency; Relationship Management; Brand Reputation; Safe Investment; and Amenities & Livability. A large sample size of 10,000 consumers (500 each in 20 cities) were given a set of open-ended and close-ended questions to assess their understanding of the real estate market, self & shared experiences and their trust level with various brands.
In order to understand the psychograph of the buyers, the study even asked counter-questions as to when the buyers bought a property with a given developer, which were the other properties/developers that they had shortlisted and why the final decision was taken in favour of the given project/developer. The overall peer endorsement in pre purchase and livability index in post purchase was also factored in.
In North India, it is interesting to note that other than the market leader by size, DLF, it is not only the ATS that is being seen with ‘Positive Outlook’. As a matter of fact, Godrej has also scaled up at Number 3 position with ‘Positive Outlook’ along with another homegrown developer of the region, Mahagun that stands at Number 4 with ‘Positive Outlook’. Godrej Properties, as a matter of fact, is the only developer that could earn ‘Positive Outlook’ of buyers in all the four regions of India.
In West India, other than Godrej Properties and Oberoi Realty that command top honours nationally, K Raheja Corp at Number 3, Hiranandani at Number 4 and Omkar Realtors & Developers at Number 5 also command ‘Positive Outlook’ by the buyers in the region.
In South India, 6 developers at the top of the table, Sobha Limited, Prestige Group, Brigade Group, Embassy Group, Puravankara Ltd and Godrej Properties have the ‘Positive Outlook’ and these 6 names command the same level of respect at the national level too.
In East India, the giant Ambuja Neotia commands ‘Positive Outlook’ at the top of the table followed by South City Projects, Forum Group and Srijan Realty. Even though at Number 4 Srijan Realty still has the ‘Positive Outlook’ of the buyers, its slip from Number 2 till last year to Number 4 has been the biggest upheavals of the region with South City and Forum being the beneficiaries.
Track2Realty maintains that since the buyers have voted out 412 developers out of a list of 500, ranking of the developers with Track2Realty Consumer Confidence Report 20:20 at any level is a testimony of some level of trust with these developers. The only developer that could make it into the list of Top 20 despite of ‘Negative Outlook’ is Delhi-NCR developer Paras Buildtech.
Most of the consumer complaints were received from North India in general and Delhi-NCR in particular. The least number of consumer complaints were noted from the South Indian markets in general and Bangalore in particular. Consumer confidence has been quite shaky in Mumbai as well.
In terms of the city index of consumer confidence, it was noted to be lowest in Kolkata with only 12% buyers showing optimism. The national average has been at 28%, while Bangalore remained as the most bullish city in consumer confidence with 34% buyers having optimistic outlook.
About Track2Realty Study
Track2Realty is a non-partisan independent media research group promoted by a consortium of journalists. Starting as the first e-newspaper in the Indian real estate sector in 2010, the group has today evolved as a think-tank group on the sector with specialized research reports and rating & ranking.
We rate and rank the sector with well defined parameters to evaluate the performance of its brand equity, consumer confidence, best practices, projects and many other insightful scope of study.
Track2Realty relies on the information available in the public domain and the consumer survey. We also solicit opinion of jury board who are neutral experts in the sector. None of our research reports are paid for and Track2Realty does not ask any company to pay fee for rating & ranking.
