Isn’t it ironic that in a country where housing shortage is at the core of policy debates, housing surplus in top Indian cities is juxtaposed to that. As a matter of fact, the reality of unsold housing units poses an even greater degree of imbalance than the housing shortage. But then unsold inventory is a symptom and not the cause of malaise in the housing market of the country. A Track2Realty report.
The report of an impending housing recession in the US housing market is a worrying factor for a section of analysts in India. As per the reports coming out of the US market, the pricing remains firm but the sales have slowed down. As per a report by the NAR (National Association of Realtors), the home sales have slowed down for six consecutive months in July. Track2Realty reports.
The Union Budget this time would be the last full budget ahead of the General Elections due next year. The real estate sector is yet again parroting the old demands, with the only difference being that the concerns of the home buyers too finds a place in their wish list. The developers have come to realise that the home buyers can no longer be ignored as they are the most necessary in the real estate business cycle.
I meet a number of stakeholders across the built environment of Indian real estate. One common narrative that has gained ground within the built environment over the years is that “this is the best time to buy a house.” Mind you! This narrative was being pushed through the throat even before Covid. Even though the real estate market in general and the housing market in particular has been going through a turbulent phase, the narrative has never changed its course.
Real estate in general and its future growth in particular is defined by its demand drivers. It is relatively easier to forecast the demand drivers in the residential sector. Reason being that the economic activities indicate the migration of the workforce and hence inherent need for housing. However, to forecast the emerging economic activity, both sector wise and region wise, is more often than not guesstimate, finds Track2Realty.
Freedom is a luxury and it means different things to different set of people. The stakeholders within the built environment of the Indian real estate too have their own set of definition when it comes to what defines their freedom. While for a home buyer, freedom is to have a rent-free house of one’s own at an affordable price, for the developers the quest has been freedom from multiple bottlenecks – single window clearance, industry status, easy funding and, most importantly, FSI free developments. Track2Realty investigates whether ‘Freedom From FSI’ would be boon or bane.
India’s urban housing today could at best be described as a soda bottle syndrome where the constant rural push to the select few urban centers could explode at any given point of time. It is not that the policy makers are unaware with the growing population and its dependence over the metro cities. As a matter of fact, when the country’s first planned city, Chandigarh, came into existence as a horizontal city that could cater as the capital of both the Punjab and Haryana State, it seemed to be independent India’s first tryst with organized urban planning in general and its housing solution in particular.
Shantanu Rastogi has invested in supporting ambitious entrepreneurs who are doing innovative work to serve the large Indian consumption basket. He has immense trust and belief in the your-space brand and its mission. On his recent investment in your-space, Shantanu Rastogi, said “There is a significant unmet need for safe, comfortable, convenient and affordable lodging & community spaces for 30M+ migrant undergrad and post-grad students in India. India being one of the largest suppliers of skilled talent across engineering, medicine, law, finance and several other professions to the world, needs high quality student housing operators to address this large and growing demand alongside high quality universities and institutions”
The real estate industry stakeholders are debating over the design changes and other functional changes in the housing projects after Coronavirus. An impression is gaining ground that the developers have the realization that the world has changed due to pandemic and they need to alter to fit into the buyers’ needs. An online poll by Track2Realty nevertheless finds that the industry is off the mark when it comes to read the pulse of the buyers. The buyers are not looking for knee jerk design changes but housing to have long term functional changes.
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.