57% of builders believe that homebuyers’ budget has increased post pandemic, reveals NoBroker.com’s latest survey

• 84% of builders affirmed that sales in H2 2020 were better than sales in H2 2019

• 85% of the respondents highlighted millennials as the most active age group (30-40 years) when it came to homebuying activity in 2020

• 100% of the builders expressed satisfaction with the government’s initiatives to bolster demand in the affordable housing segment

• 59% of builders observed greater demand for property located in the suburbs

by Suman Gupta

April 21^st, 2021: http://NoBroker.com, the world’s largest ‘peer-to-peer’ real estate portal, recently surveyed over 100 builders to map the latest property purchase trends and sentiments in India’s real estate space to cover builders’ perspective. Among its key findings, the survey observed that 84% of the respondents affirmed that the second half of 2020 registered better sales figures than the same time period of the preceding year.

When asked whether they offered any discounts on property prices to stimulate investor activity, three-fourths (75%) of the surveyed builders replied with an affirmative. Out of those 75%, more than half (53%) offered discounts within the 0-5% range while about 40% of the builders extended discounts that ranged from 5% to 10% of the property prices.  A majority (87%) claiming that offering discounts attracted homebuyers and resulted in sales.

The survey also sought to find the effectiveness of policy measures introduced by government and banking institutions and whether they were relevant to the builders’ price bracket.

Speaking on the survey, Saurabh Garg, Cofounder and CBO of NoBroker.com commented, “The pandemic marks a turning point in India’s real estate sector, especially in the way property seekers are approaching home hunting and the way builders are responding to the shift in consumer sensibilities and preferences. Through our latest survey, we aimed to map this paradigm shift. In light of the pandemic-induced economic lurch, the government launched several encouraging initiatives at both the central and state levels to bring down the actual cost of ownership and make purchasing homes more affordable for Indian buyers. The respondents of the survey expressed their satisfaction with the policy measures rolled out by various institutions to boost demand.”

The Maharashtra government, for instance, reduced stamp duty from 5% to 2% and followed this up with a further reduction in stamp duty to 1% for homes purchased by female buyers on International Women’s Day until March 31, 2021. Likewise, Karnataka reduced stamp duty to 3% for homes priced between INR 35 lakh to INR 45 lakh. Following their lead, many other states also expected to enforce similar policy measures. Regarding the efficacy of stamp duty reduction out of Maharashtra, NoBroker.com found that 95% of the respondents believed it would help improve sales.

Homebuying in the remote working era

While the regulatory intervention made the real estate space more conducive to buying activities, the post-lockdown uncertainty threw the comfort, convenience, and security that comes with owning property into sharper relief. The pandemic-led transformations in the work culture also contributed to turning the needle on the preference scale away from consumption towards ownership when it came to working professionals, especially millennials who typically preferred to rely on on-demand services before the viral outbreak.

This paradigm shift led a three-way impact. Firstly, India’s realty market encouraged the entry of a new class of consumers, namely millennials. According to the NoBroker.com survey, 85% of the builders reported that millennials comprised the most active age group (30-40 years) when it came to homebuying activity in 2020.

The second change involves new-age homebuyers setting aside bigger budgets in sync with the growing demand for more spacious residential properties. NoBroker.com found that, compared to previous years, the demand for 2 BHK units saw the maximum increase in 2020 at 59%, followed by 1 BHK (22%), 3 BHK (17%), and 4+ BHK (2%). The INR 60-80 lakh range comprised the second-most sought-after price bracket (24.1%) among the new-age homebuyers, followed by those with a budget of INR 1 crore and above (20.4%). About 13% of the buyers preferred properties between INR 80 lakh and 1 crore while only 9.3% of prospective buyers looked for homes below the price of INR 40 lakh.

Finally, with the rise of remote work which eliminated the need for professionals to commute to the office, India’s real estate sector witnessed home-seekers looking for a property in city outskirts and suburbs as opposed to city centers. With proximity to the workplace no longer a determining factor considered by property seekers in the post-pandemic landscape, 59% of builders observed greater demand for property located in the suburbs. This shift can be attributed to the need for spacious properties at affordable prices since the home now has to function as the workplace, the classroom, and the studio while allowing for spaces for relaxation activities and aesthetics.

When asked about the future prospects in terms of sales, 76% of the builders were optimistic 2021 will be a lucrative year for India’s residential real estate space. According to another interesting – and expected – trend highlighted by the survey, more than half (59%) of the builders reported that they received more leads from buyers through online portals as compared to the previous years. Following the initial lockdowns, property seekers embarked on their home-hunting journey over the digital space from the safe confines of their homes. Coupled with the comfort, convenience, and trust that new-age real estate portals lend to the users, this trend is only going to grow for the foreseeable future.

About http://NoBroker.com:, NoBroker.com is tech-based brokerage-free real estate platform that makes real estate transactions seamless and efficient. It is removing information asymmetry in the real estate sector in India with the use of cutting-edge technology and innovation. It participates in the entire user journey starting from the house search to packers & movers, home loans, home painting and cleaning services, legal services, etc. With more than 1 crore registered users across Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi-NCR, it is the world’s largest P2P real estate platform. Founded by Akhil Gupta from IIT- Bombay, Amit Kumar Agarwal from IIT- Kanpur and IIM- Ahmedabad and Saurabh Garg from IIT – Bombay and IIM – Ahmedabad,http://NoBroker.comis steadily working towards streamlining India’s largely unorganized real estate industry. The platform has raised a total funding on $151 million from marquee investors such as General Atlantic, Tiger Global, Elevation Capital, Beenext and KTB Ventures.