Independent homes gain preference over apartments

Apartments are the most common choice across India when it comes to buying a home. However, that choice is now being threatened by the growing popularity of independent houses!

As per the latest issue of PropIndex (Jul-Sep 2014), an India Apartment Index by Magicbricks, demand for independent houses has shown a growing trend in all the tracked cities. At the same time, the apartment category has witnessed a decline in demand.

For properties across the country, try Magicbricks!

This trend was most visible in two cities of the South – Chennai and Hyderabad. Both witnessed a rise of 11 per cent in demand for residential houses in the Jul-Sep 2014 quarter. While apartments still garnered the maximum buyer demand in both the cities, the shift was quite apparent. Delhi also witnessed a significant rise of 10 per cent in demand for residential houses while demand for apartments dropped by the same margin.

Other cities such as Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Greater Noida, Kolkata, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad also saw an increasing demand for independent homes with a rise of 6-7 per cent recorded in the quarter.

So, why are buyers gradually moving away from apartments, once the undisputed favourite among buyers? The reasons are more than one and may vary from city to city.

“Earlier owning an independent home was considered an aspiration due to the high pricing. However, with escalating real estate prices, apartments have also become almost equally expensive in most cities. Thus, buyers do not mind extending their budget a little to own an independent floor or a home in return of more privacy and space. Independent homes, whether a villa or a floor, in a gated community are the ones gaining preference,” says Deepak Batra, CEO, PropWorld, a brokerage firm in Noida.

Another prime reason for this shift in preference is the reducing size of the actual usable area in apartments. The loading factor has become a menace as far as buyers are concerned. “For instance, in a city like Hyderabad, the loading is almost 30 per cent. This essentially means that in a flat advertised to be around 1200 sq ft, would actually have a usable area of only about 850 sq ft. Over years, the loading factor has increased considerably in apartments and this has irked buyers,” says Rakesh Sudam, of Earthwide Properties, a city wise brokerage in Hyderabad.

The trend is largely being driven by end users as apartments would obviously be a better choice for an investor. If we delve deeper into each city, there might be many more reasons which might or might not be unique to a city. Magicbricks team would soon be updating you with details of each city!

Source: content.magicbricks.com/industry-news/independent-homes-gain-preference-over-apartments/76723.html