Demand for housing 'evergreen' in India; no signs of slowdown: CREDAI

Housing demand in Indian real estate market continues to be strong with no signs of slowdown and there is a need to boost supply to meet the requirements, according to realtors' apex body CREDAI.

The association said that housing sales in any particular quarter could fall due to lesser number of launches, but consumer demand that has surged post COVID pandemic remains intact.

CREDAI is holding its flagship conference 'CREDAI NATCON' during September 23-26 and is being attended by more than 1,100 delegates.

When asked about estimated fall in sales during the current quarter, CREDAI National Chairman Manoj Gaur said the new launches have been lower in the September quarter.

"There is no inventory. There is a huge demand for residential properties from good developers at right locations and attractive prices," Gaur told reporters.

He was replying to a query about PropEquity latest data which estimates 18 per cent fall in sales across nine major cities to 1,04,393 units during July-September period.

Irfan Razack, CMD of Prestige Group and past president of CREDAI, said, "Demand is there. There is no inventory."

The demand is "evergreen" in Indian housing market, he added.

Citing the example of his company, Razack said the sale bookings of Prestige Estates Projects fell in April-June quarter due to lesser number of launches.

He stressed on the need to streamline and fasten the process of approval for real estate projects.

Gaur further said the projects launched by reputed developers are completely sold out within few days.

Razack expressed concern over a sharp rise in housing prices in some micro markets and said the annual appreciation should be modest.

CREDAI National President Boman Irani emphasised on the need to have provision of GST input credit in the real estate sector.

He also pressed for change in the definition of affordable housing, which was capped at ₹45 lakh in 2017.

Irani said there has been a significant rise in real estate prices and therefore there is a need to revise this cap.

Irani noted that there has been a lot of improvement in the infrastructure in India but said there is a need for further improvement to reach global standards.

Asked about affordable housing segment, Razack suggested the government should provide land at subsidised rates to develop "mass housing".

He said those homes can be provided to people at a reasonable monthly rent.

"Land prices have gone up sharply. Construction cost is under our control. Labour rates too have risen," Razack said, while explaining the difficulties faced by realty firms in the development of affordable housing projects.

Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) has around 14,000 real estate developers as members from across India.