News & Resources

Inflection Point

Saturday 25th December 2010 - Times Property.

The realty sector has witnessed a sea change in terms of aspirations of buyers, home loans policies and concerns of developers in the past decade, reports RAJIV DOGRA

The graph of the realty sector – the second largest contributor to the GDP – buoyed by the rising aspirational levels of the buyer segment, home loans policy changes, and not to mention the lull phase, plots a kind of high-low points in the past decade. Additionally, the price rise in the middle of the decade was responsible for turning many buyers away from investing in the realty segment. This was, however, later turned around with the introduction of major steps taken by the government that included relaxation on the interest rates for housing loans and considerable infrastructural development.

Says Niranjan Hiranandani, MD, Hiranandani Group, “The decade has witnessed too many changes in the realty sector: the banking system has been quite proactive, the average age of a home buyer has fallen down from 45 to 32, the supply has registered a 30 per cent growth per annum, comparatively the demand has grown manifold.” Echoing similar views, N Shridhar, Group Director, DB Realty, says: “Thanks to the rapid growth of the country’s economy; mainly after globalisation, real estate sector has witnessed tremendous change in the last 10 years. Increase in the affluent and aspiring population and favourable demographics have seen a rise in demand for homes in Mumbai as well as many tier I, II and III cities across the country.”

Apart from the rise in housing demand, the decade also witnessed a surge in new infrastructure projects. “The infrastructure development has played a key role in increasing the demand for housing in entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR),” says Shridhar. “New roads came up on the northern side of Mumbai and connectivity with the main city increased tremendously, several new flyovers eased traffic and made commuting faster. Bandra-Worli Sea Link, Metro and Mono-rail projects have added to the excitement of both the home buyers as well as the developers.” Adds Hiranandani, “Townships have brought a quality of life with multiplexes, malls and supermarkets coming up.
The decade has also witnessed a rise in proposals being made to improve transport facilities. With the government policies on developments of townships outside city limits, a lot of growth is being witnessed in the periphery of a city.” According to Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and Managing Director, CB Richard Ellis South Asia: newer locations such as Thane, Borivali, Powai have opened up giving a number of options to the buyers.

With the media assuming prominence in dissemination of information in the past decade, a consumer today remains well informed about any development in the real estate industry, agree developers. “Earlier, most people were just concerned about buying a home, but now there are individuals who lookout for a conceptual building,” says Gautam Thacker, Vice-President, Marketing and Finance, Vijay Group. “With the rise in demand triggered by the buying power of the consumer segment, developers have become concerned about infrastructure, thus registering a wholesome development. The decade has also witnessed a change in the buying pattern of people; from need-based, it’s now status-based buying.” Nayan Bheda, MD, Neptune Developers Ltd, agrees, “The consumer today is well informed either through newspapers or the Net. A home buyer today looks out for value for money.” Seconds Samujjwal Ghosh, Senior General Manager, Marketing, Lodha Developers, “Thanks to consumers having the best experiences across various walks of life, Indians are suddenly more attuned to what is available, and thus desirable.”

 

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