Real estate has always been one of the most preferred investment avenues in the country but investors have been shying away in recent times due to the lowering of prices. Real estate may be on track towards a recovery of sorts as hinted by market experts. The sector has been previously impacted majorly by measures like RERA, GST and demonetization along with the Benami Property Act. Several real estate markets are still witnessing sluggish sales of housing units. As per reports, 2017 witnessed 1.6 lakh housing units being sold in the period between the first and third quarters. Sales volumes went down by 30% in comparison to the same period last year.
However, there were a limited number of new project launches. Only 94, 000 housing units were added to the inventory in the top 7 Indian cities in this period which represents a major slide of 50% as compared to the same duration in 2016. However, the market is only witnessing a transition according to industry experts and should pick up in the near future. Homebuyers will not be completely at the mercy of their real estate developers due to the Government’s reforms. This will definitely make the sector more buyer friendly.
2018 should witness a major thrust being placed on affordable housing projects. The government has given infrastructure status to affordable housing and with the PMAY benefits and low interest rates offered by banks, this is one segment that should witness the maximum activity. The Government has also covered a bigger base of customers by clearly defining homes under affordable and mid-income categories. 2018 is not likely to witness any sudden rise in prices but the reforms will certainly spur more positive buyer sentiments and transactions should go up next year.
Several projects will also be completed in 2018 and this will increase ready to move in property counts across major cities, something that may drive sales volumes even higher. While no one expects a fabulous year for the real estate sector in 2018, things should certainly be picking up and there may be a slight recovery as well according to experts.
