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Business Standard India Mortgage Leadership Conclave 2024: Discussing the way forward to build a resilient housing ecosystem in India, industry experts agreed on the need to redefine affordable housing (houses valued at Rs 45 lakh) while considering the needs of the lower-income group.
Speaking at the IMLC, Shobhit Agarwal, the co-founder of Anarock Property Consultants, noted that while the demand for newly built homes has increased two-fold since the Covid-19 pandemic… we are moving away from affordable housing… people at the bottom and informal sector are struggling…."
"....the government wants us to build houses for the poor…but construction cost is rising...consequently, the houses for the poor are shrinking...higher end demand is going up, so, it is time to redefine affordable housing…instead of pricing, unit size should be benchmark….," he said.
The panel – which also comprised Sandeep Menon, the MD and CEO of Vastu Housing Finance; Vipul Roongta, the MD and CEO of HDFC Capital Advisors, and Stuart Take, a board member of IMGC – highlighted other challenges in the way of building a resilient housing market.
On what lesson India's housing market can learn from countries such as Singapore and Malaysia, Take said, "...trust between lenders, consumers and investors…strong regulatory oversight and the environment for investments, and not just local but international....."
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"…The investments need to be diverse for this purpose…" he noted.
On buyers' approach to purchasing land, Lodha said, "I think the buyers approach to land starts with the process of education, and land records in most of the states are moving towards being digital. If you are willing to put the burden of transparency on yourself and allow digital sharing of land records, most of the issues get taken care of.
Large part of India invests in individual houses
Sandeep Menon, the MD and CEO of Vastu Housing Finance, said "If you look at the demand for affordable housing, top 10 cities are into selling apartments. However, a large part of India invests in individual houses. This is the single-biggest opportunity. Beyond top 40 cities, potential lies."
Vipul Roongta, MD and CEO of HDFC Capital Advisors, said, "Traditionally, real estate is complicated industry....the regulator is fairly conservative in India. The developer community is being pushed to bring equity to the table. In China, Rera happened 20 years ago. Post Rera, the top 10 developers had a market share of nearly 50 per cent."
He further added, "I think 8-9 developers will seel more than Rs 10,000 crore of residential stock this year. Thus, consolidation is happening already.
