October 6th, 2021, Bhawna Singh
More than a third of urban Indians are looking to invest in property, with home loans being the top financing solution
As brands prepare to lure consumers this festive season with attractive offers and deals, YouGov’s Diwali Spending Index, an indicator of spending propensity, reveals a recovering appetite to spend during festive season among urban Indians.
As Diwali is believed to be an auspicious period to make investments in property, YouGov’s new research examines factors such as attitudes, purchase intent and reasons that urban Indians consider before making real estate purchase. Data suggests that more than half (51%) of urban Indians agree with the statement - “This is a good time to invest in real estate in India”, which is a positive sign for real estate companies and property dealers. Only one in eight (12%) disagree, while 27% remain undecided.
When it comes to their property buying plans, more than a third (35%) of urban Indians said they plan to invest in real estate in the next six months. Among these intenders, adults between 25-44 years are most likely to say this than the rest. Among the genders, men were more likely than women to say they will invest in property, while among the city-tiers, we see tier I (39%) and tier II (38%) city residents holding this view more strongly than tier-3 residents (30%).
The data shows that while most of the people looking to invest in real estate are planning to buy residential property (72%), a considerable proportion (25%) wants to invest in commercial properties.
The top way of financing their plans is through home loans (as said by 38%). Using savings is the next best option (30%), followed by financing their dream by selling another property (21%).
Availability of loans at a low interest rate could be encouraging people to explore the idea of investing in real estate this festive season, as 16% of respondents claimed this to be their reason. However, delay of the original plan to buy due to the pandemic has emerged as the top reason to invest in property this year (19%). Other reasons include better prices (17%), intention to save and buy a property in 2021 (17%), and availability of funds due to recent financial gains (15%).
Affordable properties under ₹50 Lakhs have emerged as the most preferred with more than two in five (44%) willing to invest that amount. The ₹50 Lakh - ₹1 crore budget range property is at the second spot with 41% urban Indians looking to invest that amount. People residing in North India (44%) and those staying in the Tier I cities (48%) are most likely to invest within this price range.
Only 9% property seekers in urban India are willing to invest in properties above ₹ 1 crore.
When asked about their sources of information regarding property and real estate, recommendations from family and friends (48%), real-estate websites (45%) and local brokers or property agents (42%) appeared as the top sources that people have used or are using in their quest to find the ideal property.
Among real-estate websites, 99Acres and MagicBricks appear to be the most popular, and roughly two-thirds claim to have used these sites for information.
OLX Homes, Housing.com, Nobroker, India Property, Real Estate India are some of the other websites used by urban Indians for this purpose.
Data was collected online by YouGov Omnibus among 2005 respondents in the country between August 3rd- 6th, 2021 using YouGov’s panel of over 15 million people worldwide. Data is representative of the adult online population in the country.