What lies in the future...

Bangalore has emerged as the third most popular property hotspot in the country just behind Mumbai and Delhi/NCR, according to a survey carried out by Makaan.com.

The city accounted for 10.6 per cent of the total property demand in the above cities. Within the city of Bangalore, 35 per cent of the demand came from Bangalore south, 26 per cent from Bangalore east, 20 per cent from Bangalore north, 11 per cent from Bangalore central and eight per cent from Bangalore west. But, the initial part of the year 2009 started with gloom painted all over the real estate sector. All industry players had written off the realty sector till 2011, the survey points out.
Some of the highlights of the survey are as follows.

Jan to Sept’09 growth
Bangalore saw a slow but sturdy growth in demand in the first six months. The numbers of searches conducted on Makaan.com during Jan-March quarter for Bangalore were 2.99 lakh; which grew to 3.51 lakh during the April-June period (a quarterly growth of 17 per cent). With the Indian economy showing signs of revival and people becoming increasingly sure of their future earnings; there was a surge in property demand during the July-Sept period. The number of searches grew to 7.29 lakh during this period; a whopping increase of 144 per cent over Jan-March quarter. 

Affordable housing
Another highlight of the year was the focus on affordable housing (housing under 40 lakh).
This focus was not only from property seekers but also from developers. They recognised the fact that the real demand was in this segment and that it makes sense to concentrate here.

At least 76 per cent of total demand in Bangalore is for affordable housing.
The mid-segment (40-75 lakh) demand is around 13 per cent.
The demand for high-end (75-100 lakh), luxury (100-200 lakh) and super luxury (>200 lakh) is two per cent, two per cent and seven per cent respectively.
Over the course of 2009, affordable segment and mid-segment demand have shown impressive growth in Bangalore. The demand for super luxury (>200 lakh) has also grown handsomely and accounts for seven per cent of total demand.
Projection for 2010

According to the Makaan.com survey, the following trends will unfold over the next 12 months 
*Demand for residential homes in Bangalore will continue to rise but the pace of growth will get muted.
*The property prices are projected to move in a narrow range and will not see any major fluctuation either on the up or down side.
*The demand would be highly elastic i.e., every attempt of a price increase will be met by a fall in demand.
*The bulk of the demand will continue to be in the affordable and mid-segment.
*The demand for super luxury housing (budget over 200 lakh), which is largely driven by the NRI & affluent population, is likely to continue.
*Demand for “ready-to-move-in houses” will grow over “new project”.
nKnown developers, with proven track record of project delivery, will find favor over less established once.
*More real estate companies will get listed on the stock exchanges bringing in more accountability and transparency.