The festive season looks a bit subdued for property buyers this year. The price corrections that were anticipated in the primary cities have not materialized, at least not in the hoped-for magnitude.
2024 is anticipated to be a more dynamic year for the both the Asia Pacific real estate markets as well as capital in the region remaining the dominant investor in global real estate. The ability to act quickly, dig deeply into markets and sectors to identify value, and forge productive partnerships will be key to making the most of the region’s diversity and increased opportunity, claims a report by Colliers.
Lockdown is not a new reality for the developers across India, and more particularly in the Delhi NCR region. The NGT construction ban, often for months together, has hampered the execution cycle of the business. However, the comprehensive lockdown due to Coronavirus could multiply the woes of the business with supply chain hurdles leading to cost escalation, labour migration and the job losses in the market leading to standstill sales and even foreclosures. However, Amit Modi, Director of ABA Corp who is also a known face of CREDAI in this part of world thinks otherwise. In an exclusive video conferencing with Ravi Sinha, he feels some of the input costs might come down to clear the material inventory in a competitive market.
2020 hardly promises to be the #BestYearEver for the Indian real estate, simply because the sector has historically been arrogant to read the writing on the wall. They continue to live with their fancy illusion that this is just another cyclic slowdown. The raw statistics of ever increasing migration to the cities and the housing demand make them predict for self-belief that sooner than later the market will yet again turn out to be sellers’ market.
In the ‘golden years’ of India’s housing market, property was the default go-to option for big-ticket investment. With real estate’s fading allure, investors began exploring other options and found them to quite rewarding. For instance, they can invest in a start-up with sums as ‘low’ as INR 10 lakhs. Many entrepreneurially-inclined Indians find the potential ROI (as high as 15% in many instances) makes more sense. Mutual funds provide good returns and the entry level is low enough to be affordable to many.
There is a public perception that what has transformed this once non-descript city into thriving metro city is the gulf money since a large number of Kochi residents are working in the gulf region. However, Kochi property market is not being driven by gulf money alone; this could be only a reality in the luxury segment.
This policy ‘trishul’ brought about a paradigm shift in the way Indian real estate does business and laid the groundwork for improved transparency and efficiency in the sector. However, while end-user and investor confidence were rekindled for real estate, it did not exactly set the industry on fire with renewed interest.
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.
It is not just the ambiguity around the RERA that makes the Indians feel there is no hope for them. Most of the reform measures have not touched upon the average Indian homebuyers, claim close to three fourth of the buyers, as many as 72%.
A perception has gained ground that the NRIs (Non Resident Indians) losing jobs in the US and other parts of the world have no choice but to land back home and invest in India’s housing market. The ground reality, however, is that these expat Indians don’t think this is a logical conclusion, finds a global survey by Track2Realty.