Despite all these upheavals and market realignments in the past three years, India's housing market remained remarkably resilient and even thrived. However, there seems to have been one major 'fatality' - affordable housing. Once the source of considerable political hype, this segment is not merely just languishing today - it seems to be in the ICU. What happened?
Over the last decade, women have emerged as a major residential real estate buyer segment, especially in the urban centres. Their preferences are also distinctly shaping newer trends - from bigger homes, ready-to-move properties to specific budgets, they know exactly what they want. And like millennials, their preferences now influence the supply that developers put on the market
The mid-range (INR 40 - 80 lakh), premium (INR 80 lakh – INR 1.5 Cr), and luxury segments (>INR 1.5 Cr) were the showstoppers of 2022. In contrast, affordable housing had a lean time, with more buyers in this segment going into wait-and-watch mode; unsurprisingly, new supply in this category reduced markedly.
Hyderabad saw 7 separate deals for 769+ acres, accounting for over 46% of the total land transacted between Jan-Sept. NCR sealed 16 separate transactions accounting for 14% of the total land deals covering approx. 234 acres.
The first half of FY23 was a highly upbeat period for the residential market in the top 7 cities, allying fears that housing sales could be impacted by rising property prices and interest rates. The numbers show that Diwali came early for developers, with homes worth INR 1.56 lakh Crore sold across the top 7 cities in H1 FY23.
Approx. 88,230 units were sold in Q3 2022 – a marginal increase of 4% over Q2 2022 but a 41% jump annually. NCR, MMR, Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad together accounted for 90% of the sales in the quarter.
As per the CII-ANAROCK Consumer Sentiment Survey - H1 2022, demand for 3BHKs has outstripped that of 2BHKs for the first time. At least 44% of respondents preferred 3BHKs, followed by 38% favouring 2BHKs. In the survey's H1 2021 edition, 46% preferred 2BHKs, and 40% voted for 3BHKs. T
As per latest ANAROCK data, the average monthly rentals in the prominent luxury micro-markets across the top 7 cities increased anywhere between 8-18% in the last two years. Mumbai’s Worli saw the highest rental growth of 18% in the period – from INR 2 lakh per month in 2020 to INR 2.35 lakh in 2022 for luxury homes of minimum 2,000 sq. ft. area.
Indian luxury housing has performed remarkably well post the pandemic, with overall sales rising steeply across the top 7 cities. Latest ANAROCK Research data finds that of approx. 1.84 lakh units sold in these cities in H1 2022, about 14% (approx. 25,700 units) were in luxury homes. In contrast, of 2.61 lakh units sold in the whole of 2019, just 7% (approx. 17,740 units) were in the luxury category.
An analysis of buyer behaviour in the top seven cities in the last fiscal year FY21-22 shows that nearly 80% of demand is for mid-end and high-end homes, with the affordable housing segment accounting for a mere 10% of the demand.