The year 2017 has been the most eventful year for the real estate sector. The demonetisation drive launched in November 2016 had a cascading impact on the following months, while the enactment of the Real Estate Act and the implementation of Goods & Services Tax (GST) has created a wave of change for the sector.
Amid this scenario, there are a few striking trends that indicate towards the direction the Reality Sector as India is moving forward.
Here are some of the major trends that are likely to sustain in 2018 –
Affordable housing in the centre stage
Home sales across major cities of India witnessed a decline of 18 per cent during the second quarter of the current financial year as compared to the same quarter. At the same time, several cities witnessed a decisive change in the demand completely skewed towards affordable housing units priced in the range below Rs 25 lakh. Therefore, it is believed that demand for affordable housing segment would remain high in 2018.
Configuration Rejig
In order to get the price levels well within the range of home buyers, real estate developers may modify the sizes of the housing units in a way that it caters to the needs of most buyers without making them compromise on the configuration.
However, this decrease in the size has not affected the configuration. Thus, a 2BHK remains a 2BHK, but its size would be somewhat lower than the 2BHKs built in the past years. This is one of the ways, real estate developers in India are striving to keep the property prices stable and maintain buyers’ interest.
Livability and quality of life are the deciding factors
Irrespective of the price range a project offers, homebuyers do not want to compromise on the factors affecting the livability and quality of life. Gone are the days when there were projects that did not even provide sufficient parking for cars, forget about the other facilities.
Today, homebuyers look for sufficient car parking slots, well-lit campus, and parks as a basic necessity. These factors need to be there in projects having units priced below Rs 25 lakh. When the price range goes above this mark, projects that offer the aforementioned facilities plus club house with gym, swimming pool and other facilities definitely get an edge and stand a better chance among buyers.
Although these trends have evolved during the recent years, it is expected that the same would continue further in 2018 with more force.
