Higher land prices and interest rates limit choices of property buyers
Growth of commercial activity and the growing influx of IT professionals pushed housing demand in Bengaluru and Chennai. (Photo: DC)
New Delhi: The demand for housing across leading cities remained subdued in the first half of 2014, according to CBRE’s India Residential Market View report. It said that owing to high pricing and lending rates, home buyer preferences remained focused on the secondary and emerging micro-markets of leading cities.
“Residential districts across the NCR, Hyderabad and Kolkata witnessed stagnation in sales transactions; while the growth of commercial activity and the growing influx of IT professionals pushed housing demand in Bengaluru and Chennai,” said the report.
Housing supply remained largely confined to affordable and low-income segments during the first half of the year.
The largest quantum of new launches was observed in the mid-segment and budget segment, catering to the rising demand for affordable housing in the country. It said that housing prices in the premium and mid-end, high-end segments in the NCR fell by about 4-8 per cent owing to low demand during H1 2014.
Conversely, prime residential locations such as Poes Garden and T. Nagar in Central Chennai, and Aundh in Pune attracted capital appreciation of around 10-12 per cent over second half of 2013. The report said that premium locations in the Eastern Suburbs, Exten-ded Eastern Suburbs and Navi Mumbai also saw prices appreciating in the range of 3-9 per cent, barring Central Mumbai where values declined by 4-5 per cent (owing to sluggish demand levels).
Bangalore also witnessed sustained price rise (2-7 per cent) across micro-markets in the premium and luxury segments during the review period. The report said that housing demand levels are unlikely to improve before the festive season.
“The residential realty market across leading cities is hardly expected to see any traction before the upcoming festive season, when demand is expected to improve,” said the report.
It said that while home buyers have held off purchase decisions in anticipation of lowering interest rates, developers have been waiting for Diwali before launching special schemes and discounts to boost housing sales.
“Against the backdrop of a stable government at the centre, and expectations of faster decision-making, the housing market is likely to witness improvement in the forthcoming quarters.
( Source : dc correspondent )
Next Story
