Housing Prices Seen Rising In Coming Months: Survey

Nearly 50% of prospective buyers are expecting housing prices to rise in coming months amid revival in demand, according to a survey.

About 47% of respondents prefer to invest in real estate, while 21% prefer to invest in the stock market, 16% in fixed deposits and 15% in gold, found the survey of over 1,000 respondents conducted by realty portal Housing.com and industry body Naredco.

In the survey, 48% of respondents anticipate prices to rise further in the coming months, while 58% of homebuyers who are primarily end-users are looking for ready-to-move-in property, Housing.com said in a statement.

“India’s residential market has seen a sharp revival in demand after the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The rising cost of borrowing, increase in input costs and strong demand has resulted in a rise in housing prices,” said Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO – Housing.com, PropTiger.com & Makaan.com.

Many listed real estate developers have reported that they have increased prices of their apartments in the last one year to offset rise in input cost and also improve profit margins.

Agarwala expects housing demand to remain strong in the upcoming quarter on the back of strong consumer sentiment and the seasonal uplift in demand during the festive season.

The survey found out that homebuyers are cautious yet optimistic about the economic scenario for the coming months. 73% of respondents feel that the economy would continue to stay on its growth trajectory in the coming months.

While ongoing global uncertainties have moderated the outlook, the sentiment regarding the economy still remains well above the dip recorded during 2020.

Naredco President Rajan Bandelkar said: “Real Estate Sector in India is witnessing green shoots of recovery, thanks to various policy interventions implemented by the government, aiding the real estate sector to grow and ensuring speedy recovery of the industry post-Covid.”

He mentioned that the residential markets across India remain upbeat despite growing concerns about rising interest rates.

“Demand for housing will continue to be high. Consumers’ ever-increasing desire to own a home and their goal for financial security and stability has been a significant driving force for housing sales over the past two years,” Bandelkar said.

According to the survey, homebuyer sentiment has received a significant boost on the back of the increased importance of home ownership, the need for extra space amidst hybrid work policies adopted by many companies and the exigency for safety and security.

Despite the hike in property prices and interest rates, Housing.com Head of Research Ankita Sood said the homebuyer sentiment continues to remain in the positive zone for the remainder of 2022.