“Homebuyers across Delhi/NCR and Mumbai are actively looking for property; an average search is taking more than 6 months, however, they are not getting the right deal”- Says a research conducted by makaan.com to evaluate the sentiments of home buyers
In India, ownership of a home is a symbol of social status and financial security and stability. The phenomenon is even greater in metro cities of Delhi/NCR and Mumbai. The ownership of a property is usually acquired by hard work and a lot of saving. In the present economic conditions, many people in these cities are considering realty investment to have an economic stability that could provide them with funds in the future. However, the saving is only half a battle won as the time consuming and often strenuous property search has its own significance.
With the intention to evaluate the sentiments of home seekers and home buyers, India’s fastest growing property website, conducted a research in Delhi/NCR and Mumbai. The research was carried in the months of March and April 2013 among 1030 home buyers in the cities of Mumbai and Delhi/NCR.
The key findings of the research are:
Home seekers are actively looking for good property options
As part of the research, majority of home seekers of Delhi/NCR and Mumbai described their current state/phase of property search as actively looking for good property options. The desire and pressure to own a home is extremely high in these cities and therefore this finding is on expected lines. Quite a number of home seekers described their situation by saying that they are still researching and evaluating options . The individuals mainly evaluate from the point of view of future appreciation of property and the various basic facilities available for the residents.
Some individuals said that they have postponed the decision of buying a property for a while. Main reason for this could be attributed to appreciation in property price sand high interest rate scenario. Surely, home buying is as lengthy a process as it is expensive; therefore, the buyers said that their current state of property search is of defining the requirements and timeframe for purchase. Once they have the decision regarding the parameters of purchase, they will actively start searching for property. Another point highlighted was that they have already short listed the property and are in the process of completing the initial paperwork. It is interesting to know that in the current real estate situation around 8% of all seekers are able to close their requirement.
Home seekers have been searching for property for more than 6 months
Searching for property in Delhi/NCR and Mumbai is almost a Herculean task as every individual who is investing wants the best of every aspect: location, connectivity, future appreciation, budget and neighbourhood etc. Keeping in mind the same, the research by makaan.com analyzed the time period that the homebuyers have spent searching for property. The majority (62%) of people said that their respective property search has exceeded 6 months.
Only 8% of homebuyers in these cities said that they are in the initial phase of their search of property i.e. they have been searching for only 1 month. It is quite evident from the research data that home buyers in Mumbai and Delhi/NCR take every precaution and invest highly in terms of time while searching for a house.
Unavailability of the right deal is the reason for delay in purchase decision
Considering that the Delhi/NCR and Mumbai home buyers have been putting a lot of time in property purchase decision, makaan.com probed for the possible reasons for delay in purchase decision. Surprisingly, the maximum of them said that the reason for delay is that they are not getting the right deal; it was a common perspective that the market has lack of availability of options that has all the aspects in the favour of the home buyers, for example, the units that are equipped with all the facilities are out of reach financially and the units that are affordable do not have nice location.
On the other hand, the buyers also attributed the delay in their property purchase decision to being unsure on whether it is the right time to purchase property in Delhi/NCR and Mumbai. According to the homebuyers of these metros, the property prices have increased so much in the past few years that most of the end users like to think that postponing the decision to buy the property might be advantageous. With the proposal of real estate regulatory bill, decision on land acquisition bill and lowering of interest rates, end users are unsure whether to purchase the property at present or wait for the prices to come down.
Home seekers also explained that they are unable to decide within the available options and that is the reason for delay in purchase. This closely supports that statement of homebuyers in Delhi/NCR and Mumbai that there is unavailability of such a deal that attracts them.
Apart from the key findings, the research also highlighted the following preferences and responses of home buyers in Delhi/NCR and Mumbai:
Home buyers who are actively aspiring to invest in property in Delhi/NCR and Mumbai are Male in the age group of 25 and 35 years.
End users unsure whether it is the right time to invest in real estate.
Maximum number of individuals want to close a property deal within 1-3 months.
About MakaanIQ
MakaanIQ, is an initiative by real estate website Makaan.com, to provide information, intelligence and tools to help property seekers and real estate industry players take an informed property investment decision. MakaanIQ offers a host of services for the benefit of the home buyers including latest news on the Indian real estate sector and analysis of the property trends across major Indian cities. The website allows home buyers to search for property for buying, renting or PG. Home buyers can calculate their equated monthly installment (EMI) or check their affordability by using some simple tools. The website has been integrated with Makaan.com Property Index (MPI), a popular tool that offers up-to-date information related to the movement in residential property prices. For details check www.MakaanIQ.com.
