The low consumer confidence has been linked as much to peoples’ lack of confidence in their own ability to pay as with the employment uncertainties. Collectively, the buyers’ risk aversion in today’s economy as well as the developers’ unfair business practices have eclipsed real estate like never before.
This growth is witnessed across five major cities – Mumbai, Gurugram, Noida, Bengaluru and Pune, where 4000 homebuyers were surveyed by 360 Realtors to understand buying trends. One of the key driving factors for the increase in investor interest is the impact of policies such as RERA. Assured rentals and EMI payouts after possession, offered by developers have also significantly boosted investor confidence.
The Indians seem to be quite aware of the challenges of mass housing, as is visible with nearly half of the respondent, 48 per cent questioning when land acquisition is going to be tougher how housing for all will be a reality.
The Northern Peripheral Road (NPR), also known as Dwarka Expressway, is an 18-km stretch of road that is being developed under the public private partnership (PPP) model. This stretch will connect Dwarka Phase II and Palam Vihar to National Highway 8 near Kherki Dhaula and Pass Pataudi Road. This is a highly lucrative project that has been taken up by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).
It is generally accepted in the Indian market that rental yields in the country are often much lower than elsewhere in the world because relatively few people seek rented homes: 66 per cent of homes in Indian cities and 90 per cent of homes in rural areas are owner occupied.
The first movers in any property location across the country move into the market due to affordable price point, be it Greater Noida West in Delhi NCR or beyond Thane in Mumbai Metropolitan Region. More often than not they are rewarded with sizeable capital appreciation.
For a large expat workforce that depends on the rental houses across the cities, the quest has always been to find a house where the rental prices are not high. Though the rental values might seem to be undervalued in the Indian context due to higher capital values, the fact is that when compared to affordability and median income of the cities, the rental values are mostly exorbitant. This is more true in the context of the top 10 cities being the job magnet.
An analysis by Track2Realty vis-à-vis the volume of office space consumption per household – not only in India but also internationally in London, Singapore, New York, Tokyo etc concludes that there is equilibrium when the office space consumption is around 60-65 sq feet per household. In India it is rather surprising that the ratio per household even in a city like Mumbai is 25 sq feet. Kolkata has a dismal only 14-15 sq feet office space per household. In Delhi-NCR it is again 20-25 sq feet per household.
Swadeep Sharma was on a house hunt in Noida for the last two years. Last year he could find a house of choice at one of the newly delivered projects in Noida Expressway at INR 5600 per sq feet. He could, however, not manage his finances then. Now that he has managed his finances, he went to the same location anticipating shelling out more money. He was, however, taken by surprise. The apartment in the same society is today available at INR 4800 per sq feet.
The fact of the matter is that any prospective buyer in Noida who does not have budget constraints would be tempted to buy an apartment along this stretch. Most of the projects that have come up in the last six to seven years are premium category projects with ultra modern amenities and facilities. Among the newly developed locations, the habitation has hence been faster in this region.