How Will The Real Estate Market Look Like In 2016?

The Indian real estate market has been treading the slugging path for the last two years. There has been no recovery in buyers' sentiment as prices remain stable, and there is less hope of capital appreciation in the short-term. 

In 2016, however, most of these factors will turn positive reversing buyers' as well as developers' sentiments. Here's a glimpse of how the Indian real estate market in 2016 will look like:

Lowered interest rates: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut interest rates by 50 basis points in two rounds this year. Though the transfer of benefit by banks to their customers is much slower than expected, a few commercial banks are cutting interest rates for home loan seekers, giving the much needed boost to the sector. The positive effects of these cuts will become much more visible for the property for sale in India by the next year as those who are waiting for much deeper cuts will stop doing so and seal the deals.

Easy payment plans: Developers too are changing track to attract buyers into the residential markets. Builders with large debts and piling inventories are expected to ease the process of property investment with easy payment plans for homes. The prevalence of these schemes will help pick up buying properties in many cities as well as towns.

Tier II, Tier III cities rise: The property in India has witnessed large unsold inventories, a majority of which is in Tier I cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bangalore. This has prompted most of the developers, both big and small, to head to other upcoming tier II cities like Pune and Chennai where there is higher chance of capital appreciation along with the rising demand for luxury and semi-luxury apartments.

Other Tier II cities, like Indore, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Jaipur, Kochi, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam, too are experiencing growth. The developments in these towns will be the biggest focus of the developers in 2016.

More affordable units: The change has already happened. A large number of developers are re-drawing their plans to converting 2BHK apartments into 1BHK apartments in India with fewer and simpler amenities. This will end the exclusive growth of luxury condominiums only in all the new locations, creating only posh localities out of most real estate hubs.

Increased FDI in realty: The government is planning 100 smart cities across India and other such projects similar to the GIFT city in Gujarat. These projects have already garnered huge interest in the NRI and other communities. The government has also made it easier for foreign direct investment (FDI) to flow in to Smart City projects. Such kind of money, in the form of private equity or seed funding, is expected to boost investment in the affordable segment, which will lead to growth in the real estate sector.

The sector has been slow for a very long time now. With enough boost from the government, this state of affairs is all set to change in 2016.

(Katya Naidu has been working as a business journalist for the last nine years, and has covered beats across banking, pharma, healthcare, telecom, technology, power, infrastructure, shipping and commodities)