Property forecast for 2014: Makaan.com

Speculators and Investors have been riding the property market since a long time; however, they will make way for end users in 2014. Majority of home buyers want to purchase a property in 2014 for self use as they are currently staying on rent. An almost equal number of home buyers want to buy property to meet the growing family requirements and for long term investment. The analysis show that the year 2014 may experience a very positive shift from the earlier years and will bring in the much required stability in the property market. As the property transactions have fallen over the past 12 months, speculators and investors are finding it difficult to exit the market.

2) Residential property prices will either stabilize or will appreciate marginally in 2014

Property prices have remained stable over the past few months and the mood of the market suggests a continuation of this trend. 26% of home buyers feel that the residential property prices would remain stable over the course of 2014. 46% of buyers expect the prices to go up from the current level with majority of them expecting an appreciation of up to 10%. This should bring some relief to the buyers in 2014 as generally more than 10% appreciation is expected on a yearly basis. 28% of buyers are advocating for the prices to go down from the current level. 17% of them are expecting a drop of over 10%.

Property budget of Home Buyers is likely to remain the same in 2014

There has been talk of a slowdown in the Indian economy with all economic indicators showing a negative trend. This, however, has not dampened the spirit of the Indian home buyer. His budget for buying a property in 2014 will not be affected by the slowdown. This reinforces the confidence of the home buyer in real estate as an asset class. There are 23% of buyers who have reduced their budget allocation while there are another 19% who are ready to dish out more money for property buying.

4) Apartment is the preferred choice of home buyers

In 2014, majority (65%) of home buyers will be looking for apartments or flats. Residential plots (15%) also emerged as the preferred choice for a few home buyers. Apartment is the preferred choice for people in Delhi, Mumbai & other such cities that have high property prices and scarcity of land. Security and community living also contribute in making apartment the preferred option. Service /Studio apartment have gained popularity; however, they still account for a very small portion (3%) of the overall demand. There is an interesting overall shift in the property type preference; a decade back or so, quite a lot of the people preferred an independent/builder floor; however, now the preference for the same remains only 4%.

5) Property investment budget for home buyers is 0-40 lakhs

Owning a house has been a priority for Indians since ages; it is treated as a symbol of financial stability and social status. Affordable housing i.e., housing between 0-40 lakhs will continue to be a preference for majority of home buyers with almost 60% buyers opting for this. Mid segment housing (40 lakhs to 1 Crore) will be the preferred budget category for 34% of home buyers. High end housing (1 to 2 Crore) will be preferred choice for 6% of buyers whereas only 1% of buyers will be looking for luxury housing (over 2 Crore).

Location and Price will be the top purchase considerations in 2014

“Location” will be the top most purchase consideration for home buyer in 2014. The preference for “Location” is even higher than “Price” that was the biggest influencer for property purchase over the last few years. This is an important shift in behavior of the home buyer. Other factors that will influence purchase decision are Price (24%) and Connectivity (18%). Around 13% of home buyers will give higher importance to “neighbourhood” and proximity of the property to hospitals, schools and offices. It is interesting to note that only 2% of home buyers rate size as the top purchase consideration, which implies that majority of the locations have each property type available for purchase.

7) High Property prices will be the main hindrance for home buyers in 2014

The phenomenon of exponential jump in property prices has been prevailing in the Indian real estate market since 2009; however it is for the first time that the high property prices (61%) has been identified as the single biggest hindrance in buying property in 2014. With more than half of the homebuyers considering high property prices as a hindrance, it can be inferred that most of them are unable to justify or afford the high prices being asked from them.

Other dampeners are that the home buyers are unable to find their dream adobe closer to their preferred location (11%) and with the appropriate connectivity. They are either forced to compromise with an area or postpone the purchase of the property. High home loan interest rate (11%) is another reason because of which home buyers might decide not to buy a property in 2014. Therefore, when it comes to choosing between available options, projects with economical budget and superior location & connectivity will win the race in 2014.