• Residential demand increased YoY across cities including Mumbai (52.1%), Noida (35.8%), Gurugram (34.5%) and Bengaluru (33%)
• Pan-India average rate increased 13.9% YoY
• Residential supply increased YoY across cities including Mumbai (13.4%), Bengaluru (8.4%), Chennai (2.9%) and Delhi (2.1%)

The Indian residential market demonstrated resilience and overall growth in 2022, observed Magicbricks’ PropIndex Report for October-December, 2022. According to the report, the aggregate residential demand (searches) increased 19% YoY led by major cities such as Mumbai (52.1%), Noida (35.8%), Gurugram (34.5%), Delhi (14.8%) and Bengaluru (33%).

The report further observed that the average rate increased 13.9% YoY and the cumulative supply (listings) grew 2.7% YoY. Noida (13.7%), Greater Noida (12.3%), Hyderabad (11. 7%) and Thane (8.1%) witnessed the highest increase in average rate YoY; and Mumbai (13.4%), Bengaluru (8.4%) and Thane (4.1%) saw the highest YoY increase in residential supply. The report also observed that 2 and 3 BHK units were the most preferred across these 12 cities. While cities like Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad continue to see a surge in demand for affordable units, other big metro cities like Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai are attracting demand for mid-segment residences.

Elaborating on the trends, Sudhir Pai, CEO, Magicbricks commented, “In 2022, residential demand, supply and prices recovered, and the year bode well for both under-construction and ready-to-move-in houses. Despite consecutive hikes in the Repo Rate and home loan rates in the past quarters, end-users remained keen on home buying, encouraging developers to accelerate new project launches while delivering their existing projects. Overall, we are optimistic that the residential demand will be largely sustained in 2023 as well.”

The report further observed that the pan-India average rates of ready-to-move-in properties increased 9.0% YoY, and average prices of under-construction properties increased 15.3% YoY.

Also Read: Godrej Properties to develop a Residential Group Housing project in Gurugram

The post India’s residential demand increased 19% appeared first on Square Feat India.

The depreciating rupee value and the continuing buoyancy in the Indian residential real estate market are significant draws for NRIs to invest in their country of origin. The latest CII-ANAROCK Consumer Sentiment Survey shows that Hyderabad, NCR, and Bengaluru are NRIs’ top picks for housing investment. Interestingly, MMR comes a distant fourth on NRIs’ wish list. 

Notably, at least 60% of NRI respondents will buy homes in one of these three cities, with 22% focused on Hyderabad, 20% eyeing NCR, and 18% preferring Bengaluru. In last year’s corresponding period survey, Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai were the top picks for most NRIs.

Of the 5,500 respondents participating in the survey, 7% were NRIs currently stationed in the US, Canada, Gulf, Europe, and various Asian countries. 

Notably, more NRIs prefer investing in Indian real estate over stocks, mutual funds, gold, and fixed deposits. In the survey’s current (H1 2022) edition, 71% NRI respondents saw Indian housing as the best investment bet. This is markedly higher than the 55% in the pre-Covid edition.

“Despite the worst of Covid-19 now in the past, NRIs have clearly not forgotten the uncertainties associated with living in a foreign country during a major pandemic,” says Prashant Thakur, Sr. Director & Head – Research, ANAROCK Group. “Securing homes in India became, and remains, a priority for Indians everywhere. While domestic homeownership sentiment remains strong despite hardening home loan interest rates and property prices, the depreciating rupee value against the US dollar gives NRIs a distinct advantage.”

Housing has seen a 15-20% increase in NRI demand in the first nine months of 2022 compared to the corresponding period in 2021. “As per ANAROCK Research, the Jan-Sept period of 2022 saw approx. 2.73 lakh homes sold in the top 7 cities,” says Thakur. “On an average, NRIs account for 10-15% of homes sold in any given quarter.”

Size Matters 

Demand for bigger homes has been one of the defining new developments in the post-Covid era. While schools and offices have reopened, the desire for extra living space remains undiminished. Many of the large IT employers companies and IT-driven start-ups now operate on a hybrid work model.

For NRIs, the favourable exchange rate is another prime motivator to secure bigger homes. The current H1 2022 survey finds that over 77% NRI respondents will buy bigger homes – 54% favouring 3BHKs and 23% looking to buy 4BHKs. Just 22% NRI respondents are now looking for 2BHKs. In the pre-Covid survey, at least 40% were eyeing 2BHKs.

63% NRI respondents currently prefer premium properties priced between INR 90 lakh – INR 1.5 Cr. In last year’s survey, 59% NRIs preferred luxury properties priced between INR 1.5 Cr to INR 2.5 Cr.

Many NRIs are now looking to shift back to India and actively use these homes. The current economic situation in many countries is uncertain because of the recessionary dynamics brought on by the Ukraine-Russia war, while the Indian economy is markedly better off. 

Also Read: How can NRIs positively impact the growth rate of the Indian real estate market?

The post Hyderabad, NCR, and Bengaluru Top NRI Housing Wish List appeared first on Square Feat India.

By Varun Singh

NRIs are back in the real estate market. They are scouting for homes but as per a recent report Mumbai stood at fourth position in terms of preference of NRIs.

As per ANAROCK’s latest consumer survey, at least 73% NRIs now prefer properties priced between Rs 90 lakh to Rs 2.5 Crore. 

The report says that in the pre-COVID survey (H2 2019), just 41% preferred properties within this price bracket – most favoured affordable and mid-segment homes. 3 and 4 BHK options currently top their wish-list.

The IT hubs of Bengaluru (24%) and Pune (19%) are seeing the highest NRI demand.

Collectively, these two cities saw approx. 48,370 homes sold in 2020 – accounting for a 35% sales share among the top 7 cities. 

Prashant Thakur, Director & Head – Research, ANAROCK Property Consultants says, “The COVID-19 pandemic has increased NRIs’ emotional association of long-term security with physical assets. 63% of the polled NRIs state this as their reason for buying homes in India now. They are also driven by the uncertainties posed by COVID-19.”

The report states that, of the total 24% survey respondents who already booked properties in the last six months, at least 38% were NRIs looking to make the most of the prevailing market conditions in India, including discounts, offers and lowest-best home loan rates.

“Luxury properties have emerged as a hot favourite with NRIs because of the depreciating rupee value translating into greater buying power, coupled with ongoing developer discounts and offers. A majority of NRIs is buying for end-use, not as investments.”

Prashant Thakur, Director & Head – Research, ANAROCK Property Consultants 

The report states that 86% of the polled NRIs will only consider properties by branded developers who have the highest project completion capabilities, resulting in the lowest execution risk. Another reason for this choice is NRIs’ desire to buy into projects with international-grade amenities.

According to the survey, most of the polled NRIs seeking property in India are aged between 35-45 years of age. Among all NRI respondents who participated in the survey, close to 68% considered real estate as the best asset class for them at this time.

Regarding their outlook on residential property prices, at least 44% respondents felt that prices will remain stable in the short-term (i.e. 12 months), while 27% feel they will increase during the year. Over the long term (i.e. in 5 years), 92% NRI respondents think prices will increase.

According to the survey, at least 67% of the polled NRIs are looking for ready-to-move-in homes. If we consider the overall survey trends (including NRIs and resident Indians) just 29% preferred to buy RTM homes, with another 27% respondents preferring under-construction properties that will be delivered within a year.

Also Read: How The Budget Works For NRIs And Realty Industry?

The post NRIs Prefer These Cities Over Mumbai appeared first on Square Feat India.

By Varun Singh

The supply constrained Indian office market saw an unprecedented influx of office space in 2019 that pushed transaction levels to an all-time high, both in annual and half yearly terms.

Close to 61.3 million sq ft (msf) of office space was delivered during the year, amounting to a 56% YoY growth over 2018.

Bulk of 2019’s office space supply came online during the second half of the year (H2 2019) at 37.5 msf, registering a 78% YoY growth over the previous period.

2019 saw Bengaluru experience the highest quantum of new supply at 16.1 msf, followed by NCR at 12.3 msf and Hyderabad at 10.9 msf. Except MMR and Pune, all other markets saw a positive growth in office supply.

Office leasing activity in 2019 touched a historic high 60.6 msf despite the ongoing slowdown in the economy, registering a 27% YoY growth over 2018.  H2 2019 also saw a similar growth in transaction volumes at 29% and accounted for a record high of 33.2 msf.

H2 2019 incidentally also represented the first half-year period since H2 2012 in which the space transacted was less than the supply that came online during that period.

Bengaluru, which has dominated this decade in terms of transaction volumes, saw the highest volume of office space leased again in 2019 at 15.3 msf, followed by Hyderabad at 12.8 msf, nearly twice its previous annual high.

Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said, “Office leasing in India has been growing from strength to strength despite a sluggish economy, with ample investment demand for high-quality assets. It would be interesting to see if the massive supply that is lined up to come online in the near future across major markets, and macro-economic headwinds put rental growth under pressure.”

Hyderabad saw a huge jump when it came to transactions, it grew by 105% YoY when compared to last year. In H2 of 2018 Hyderabad had transactions of 4.3 million sq ft, which went up to 8.9 million sq ft.

The same for Mumbai remained unchanged, while Bengaluru saw a jump of 1%, NCR saw a jump of 22%, Chennai witnessed a jump of 95%. The lowest was in Pune which saw a decline of 11% in H2 of 2019 when compared to H2 of 2018.

The post Office transactions hit historic high of 60.6 msf in 2019 appeared first on Square Feat India.