In the April-June 2019 quarter, India's GDP grew only by 5% - the slowest pace in over six years. Consumers are spending less on everything from FMCG to automobiles – and, of course, real estate. Naturally, the sector eyes RBI's monetary policy for cuts in the key lending rates to support the various measures taken by the government to boost consumption sentiment.
Property technology (PropTech) is a new force that’s taking the real estate industry by storm. It is the use of information technology to help individuals and companies research, buy, sell and manage real estate. Just the way FinTech focuses on the use of technology in finance, PropTech uses digital innovation to address the needs of the property industry.
Top 7 cities saw 55,080 units sold in Q3 2019 against 68,600 units in Q2 2019; yearly decline recorded at 18% over Q3 2018. New launches fell from 69,020 units in Q2 2019 to 45,230 units in Q3 2019, 13% y-o-y decline from 52,130 units in Q3 2018. Kolkata & Chennai see lowest quarterly sales drop of 12% each; Hyderabad records highest drop at 26%. Unsold inventory in top cities declined meagrely by 1% – from 6.66 lakh units in Q2 2019 to 6.56 lakh units in Q3 2019; Hyderabad sheds maximum unsold stock of 5% in a quarter. 41% new supply of Q3 2019 in affordable segment, 36% in mid-segment (priced INR 40-80 lakh). Property prices largely remained stagnant across cities. Recent Govt. sops boost sentiment at onset of festive season; housing sales may increase in upcoming quarters.
Visual information is one of the best ways for our brains to process and retain information. Think about the various social media platforms that you visit. Which ones are your favourites? Which ones are more popular? Instagram and Pinterest are quickly becoming more popular than Facebook due to its entirely visual-based web design. This is also why Facebook posts with images get shared more than ones that don’t.
There has been much discussion about the impact of the so-called “information age”. Prior to 2003 it has been said that throughout history mankind had generated a sum total of 5 Exabyte’s of content up to that year. Today it is estimated we generate this amount of content measured in days.
Avg. property sizes decline from 1,400 sq. ft. in 2014 to 1,020 sq. ft. in 2019 NCR sees least decline of 6%, followed by Chennai with 8% and Bengaluru & Kolkata with 9% each MMR & Pune see highest decline of 45% and 38% respectively Avg. property sizes currently highest in Hyderabad at 1,570 sq. ft.; MMR has least with 530 sq. ft. area Affordable homes priced <INR 40 lakh see maximum decline of 28%; Bangalore sees max. decline of 33% within this segment
In another positive and a bold step to help revive the economy from its slumber, the FM has slashed the corporate tax rates to 25.75% from earlier 30%. This big-bang move will have a rippling impact on all sectors including real estate as it will encourage foreign institutional investors to invest in the country.