Will the big real estate shakeout happen this year ? Or is it already happening ?
Here we are, expecting a turnaround but instead are about to run into something else. Something that might actually be good for the real estate sector. The big shakeout.
There’s been some good news. Residential sales are up across India on a quarter to quarter basis, but unsold inventory keeps increasing. This includes both under construction and ready to live units. So, what’s selling? What’s in demand? Just three things, ready to live in properties, office space and small ticket sized products such as studio apartments and affordable housing units.
Real estate price have fallen over the past two years, but the decline has been so slow that it’s just not registering in people’s minds. You can’t blame them, when property prices zoomed, they rose sharply and stayed at a steady level. The reverse didn’t happen, but what happened next was a time correction. Sadly, its taken too long to be noticed.
It’s time investors, veterans or newcomers, sat down and considered what’s going on. It’s also time that developers seriously worry about what’s going to happen next.
Coming next, is the big real estate shakeout.
For property buyers, the current rates are as low as you’ll get. There may be a few distress sales available, but what hasn’t been sold till now will go off the market. A lot of investors have reconciled to the fact that they’re now virtually married off to their investments, and will have to wait for years before they consider parting with them. So, those premium properties won’t be available in the secondary market. A lot of not so attractive properties, in under developed locations or unfinished projects, will be always be available, but who’ll risk buying them? So, those older, veteran investors will be forced to stay away for a long long time. The first shakeout.
Now, if you were a first time investor who bought property a year or two ago, or even recently, you’ll see some limited appreciation coming in over the next two years. That’ll make you confident to buy again, it’s ironical what a small ray of hope can do. You are now the new investor, and once there are a few thousand such people we’ll see the market moving upwards again. The second shakeout.
Among developers, we’ll see a silent consolidation. Companies, or rather brands such as Godrej, Tata and a few more will find small developers eager to join hands or what’s even more likely, hand over project selling and development to them. We’ll see launches at rates which will make us look twice at an advertisement, and when it’s been offered by a reputed large developer we’ll probably want to check out the details. The branding of real estate is about to begin. This is the most important shakeout.
An unfortunate result will be that many small developer projects will get delayed or stalled, adding to the widespread negative perception about this sector. Among these, projects selling smaller sizes, catering to affordable housing, will find the going slightly easier.
Speculative buying won’t return. We’re going to see the maturing of the real estate market. We’re going to see a steadying of secondary market rates, and a lot more demand for office space, resulting in a lot more construction for office space.
This is shakeout time in Indian real estate. We had it coming.
