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.
2022 won’t be an easy year for the average Indian home buyer in terms of making a conscious decision of buying a house. The fundamentals of the market and macroeconomic outlook indicates 2022 could be even more challenging than 2021 for more than one reason. The rising input cost of construction has put a serious question mark over the feasibility of the business in a price sensitive market. Many of the developers with thin profit margins are facing a catch-22 where the input cost hike is compelling for escalation but the demand side is not ready to absorb the hike.
I often get amused when I get into the details of the industry survey that shouts at the top of its voice – “All is Well”. Some of these industry reports claiming the business to be witness to higher consumer sentiment are based on the feedback of connected parties like developers, banks, financial institutions and private equity players. All in all, it’s a family cycle where everyone is desperate to beg, borrow or steal for sale. The most important stakeholder – the home buyer – whose sentiment is being tracked is better left out in this mutual appreciation club of vested interests.
Investors continued to be bullish on the Indian market, snapping up assets in office and industrial space. Office assets accounted for 35% of the total investments in H1 2021, followed by industrial and warehousing assets with a share of 27%. Investors are viewing the current scenario as an opportunity to snap up properties at attractive valuations.
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.
It was expected to be a future ready budget and the overtones in the power corridors were also self-congratulatory in advance. It finally turned out to be pretty ordinary budget for the real estate sector. The stakeholders are nevertheless looking for the silver lining here and there. The most critical stakeholder, the home buyer, is pretty disappointed with the Union Budget 2021-22.
Budget after budget the industry voices across the built environment of the Indian real estate echo the causes & concerns of the supply side – builders. On the eve of the Union Budget 2021-22, it is imperative to address the issues that affect the demand side – buyers. Failing to address the buyers issues, would be detrimental to the revival of the sector which, in turn, is critically linked to the revival of the economy at large.
According to the World Bank, India ranks at 63rd among 190 countries, and the ranking is anticipated to improve further in the coming years backed by progressive government policies. Meanwhile, the real estate sector has shown remarkable resilience despite the bearish phase of the economy. Below is a lowdown of how the real estate story unfolded in 2019:
It was not the magic wand it was hoped to be. However, over the past two years, the Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) has brought more sanity – and the return of consumer power – than seemed possible in such a short time. The real estate sector is still struggling with it and the Act is very much work-in-progress in many states, but RERA nevertheless hangs like a sword of Damocles over a previously unregulated industry. Eventual compliance across the board seems inevitable.
Bottom Line: Come budget and all discussions and debates around…