The Union Budget 2022-23 lacked any fresh ideas as far as the real estate in general and the housing market in particular is concerned. Most of the announcements are more or less the extension of the old schemes and roadmaps. The euphoria of the industry stakeholders ahead of the budget turned into a deafening silence in the next few hours of budget speech.
Tracking the sentiment is not that easy in the business of Indian real estate. There is no ideal predictive model that could assess the sentiments of both the developers as well as the buyers. The leading voices of the sector has never been very consistent with their budget wish list and the post budget customary note. The most important stakeholders, the home buyers, are more often than not completely ignored when it comes to sentiment assessment post the Union Budget.
The cost of doing business per square feet has always been challenging in the top 10 cities of India. The ever increasing migration for jobs in these cities have made the housing affordability even bigger challenge. Critics are not cynical when they question as to what extent and till when these cities will continue to be filled up like a soda bottle. Aren’t our metro cities on the verge of a population blast? Come 2021 and Track2Realty analysis believes the infamous Coronavirus in a strange way has shown the way forward.
There are multiple factors why the home sales in monsoons are subdued. One obvious reason is that the Indians traditionally don’t make any high value purchases after Akshay Tirtiya and before Ganesh Chaturthi. Since a home is the most emotional & aspirational product; is life’s biggest purchase; and is in most of the case for the lifetime; the Indians prefer to wait till the beginning of the festive season. Inauspicious period of Shraddh and Pitripaksh also falls during the monsoon season, where the traditional belief is that any new purchase will invite the curse of the ancestors.
India’s office market space leasing moved at a measured pace as most occupiers halted their expansion plans in the wake of the unanticipated second wave of the pandemic that hit the country earlier this year. Consequently, leasing activity across six major cities in India during the first half of 2021 dragged to a six-year low, according to the latest half-yearly report ‘India Market Watch Office’ by international real estate advisory firm Savills India.
He has experience working across diverse asset classes and markets, advising leading domestic and multinational owners, investors, and occupiers. Based in Mumbai, Ramesh will partner with Sankey Prasad, Chairman & Managing Director of Colliers in India, to lead the business.
Berkshire Hathway HomeServices, the real estate brokerage arm of global investor Warren Buffet has entered into the Indian market through its tie-up with Orenda India. Sanya Aeren, its Chief Advisor-Marketing & Communication, says the global best practices of Berkshire and the huge untapped opportunities in the Indian market would position this alliance into the top league. In an Exclusive Interview with Ravi Sinha, she spells out her plans to organize the property brokerage, penetrate deep into the market and also give a new experience to the investors. Excerpts of the interview:
A record low household savings, double digit unemployment, and rising inflation, has added to the harsh reality of Indian home buyers’ high Debt to Income (DTI) ratio. The Covid induced financial hardships have indeed wreaked havoc with many of the Indian home buyers. Despite of the advantages of lower interest rates, their DTI ratio has suddenly shot up beyond what could be termed as manageable level.
Much before the outbreak of pandemic Coronavirus, the Indian real estate sector battling with the consistent slowdown was looking up to the turnaround catalyst. While the success of REIT had given it a glimmer of hope, the fund managers had their eyes set on a segment that has the potential to not just spread across the country but give a piggy ride to other segments as well, most notably to the housing. Track2Realty finds the warehousing & logistics to emerge as the mainstream real estate in the last few years.
With home loan interest rates below 7 per cent, an impression has gained ground that this is the best time to buy a house. Track2Realty takes a closer look at the economic fundamentals that suggest the interest rates are one of the sales catalysts and there are many variables to consider.