The residential realty category has been resilient throughout 2021 with rapidly increasing sales figures in spite of the impact of the second wave of COVID-19 in the second quarter of the year. However, the industry recovered strongly by end-2021 according to a Square Yards report.
Based on the Square Yards report, new launches have gone up by 16% in the first and last quarter of the year with a majority of buyers seeking 3 BHK configurations. 43% of total searches were for these units as per the report. Demand has grown consistently for more space through an extra room, bigger balconies or flexi rooms with changes in lifestyles and working habits due to the pandemic. 35% of online property searches pertained to homes between 1,000-2,000 sq ft which indicates a major increase from the trends in 2020 when around 20% looked for properties in this size category. Yet, the highest-searched homes were those sized lower than 1,000 sq ft. Mid-segment housing is still the biggest driver of demand and properties with ticket prices above Rs. 1 crore accounted for 33% of overall online searches in the fourth quarter, indicating growth of 6% as compared to the first quarter of last year.
The most popular rental accommodation cities in 20201 were Mumbai and Bangalore. Around 70% of rental home searches were for homes sized at less than 1,000 sq ft. The most preferred price point was Rs. 10-20,000 each month with the segment witnessing 45% levels of searches all throughout last year. Although home buyers searched for bigger homes last year, affordability was still the biggest determinant of their purchase decisions. The affordability definition, however, varied across segments. Around 50% of overall transactions in the final quarter covered 2 BHK housing units.
There was higher alignment in demand and supply trends for the mid-range housing category than original expectations. Yet, this is not true for other home ticket sizes. The fourth quarter saw demand tilting more towards premier housing units and available inventory comprised 1/3rd of residential units in the affordable category according to the Square Yards report. In the last quarter of the year, 50,000+ new projects were launched in India’s top 6 cities that were covered in this study, namely MMR (Mumbai Metropolitan Region), Gurugram, Noida, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. 26% of new launches were in the greater Mumbai area while 24% of total launches also happened in Hyderabad.
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Published Date: Feb 12, 2022
