Waiting to buy a house in Delhi NCR? Begin your search now as interest rates may be lowered,
Gulshan and Pragati's landlord recently increased the rent by the usual 10%. Fed up with pouring all that rent money down a bottomless pit, the couple have now decided to start looking for a house of their own, hoping that interest rates would have come down by the time they finalise a purchase.
If caution dictated the homebuyers' purchase decision in 2011, this year may see some regaining confidence and moving fast to sign on the dotted line if interest rates soften, inflation is reined in to some extent, and if the job market shows signs of improvement.
Like Gulshan and Pragati, it's time for many sitting on the fence to take the plunge.
One should not expect significant price movement this year but the number of transactions should go up. The prices will remain stable, but the volumes will improve and that is the key for the residential real estate market in 2012, says Pranay Vakil, chairman of Knight Frank, a global real estate consultancy.
Also, with the apex bank hinting at softening its stance on interest rates, many buyers could be returning to the negotiating table. The Reserve Bank of India hiked the lending rate by almost 13 times in 18 months, which had impacted builders and kept homebuyers at bay.
Incidences of new launches will decline. Rise in capital values will be marginal because of low sales but that will also depend on the area and location being considered.
“Project-specific price increases can be expected across all sub-markets this pertains especially to projects that are being delivered or are nearing completion.
The mid-end and affordablehousing segments will record appreciation in capital values in the short term from a low base,“ points out Ashutosh Limaye, head research and real estate intelligence service, Jones Lang LaSalle India.
The R3000 to R5000 per sq ft market will continue to do well, depending on the area.
However, to make housing more affordable, some developers may resort to reduction in unit size, says Geetamber Anand, vice president, CREDAI.
Homebuyers have a wide choice before them if their budget is anything between R40 lakh to R70 lakh. They could choose from completed, soon-to-be-completed or even new launches in areas such as Sohna Road, Golf Course Road, Dwarka Expressway, Manesar, areas in Ghaziabad and Noida.
Also, Delhi's new Master Plan 2021 has the potential of unlocking a supply of approximately 15 lakh residential units, expected to come up in five new zones. Delhi will throw up the largest supply of housing in the R20-lakh and R36-lakh price band.
That will lead to rationalisation of residential prices in the surrounding areas.
According to Anshul Jain, CEO of DTZ India, the moment mortgage rates are down, end users will flock to the market, releasing more money into it. By the end of the third quarter this year, there will be more activity and real supply in Delhi NCR.
The biggest challenge, however, will be the execution and timely delivery of projects.
