Real estate – Emerging trends in 2022

India’s realty sector is on the cusp of a turnaround, according to market experts. The real estate sector, particularly the residential segment, is already showing signs of “healthy growth” in 2022, according to reports. This buoyancy is vindicated by another report, which says supply in the residential segment jumped 27% between January and September, 2021 when compared to the entire 2020 supply.



This new-found traction has pushed up sales by 5 to 7% and many market watchers feel that new supply and sales quantum could reach pre-pandemic levels this year, marked as the bounce-back year. While interest rates are slated to rise in the second half of the year, prices could go up even further, given the new impetus in the market.

So what are the emerging trends?
The market momentum has surely been driven by cheaper home loans and demand for bigger apartments with a clutch of built-in amenities in gated communities. Much of this new demand is fueled by the WFH (work from home) culture. Young professionals want more space with a touch of sophistication and all the creature comforts they can get to maintain a lifestyle many of them have got used to. An extra room has thus become routine customer preference. Also, the pandemic has taught us the value of community-driven living and the need for safety and peace of mind.

The trend was visible in 2021 itself when there was decent demand in the mid segment (apartments priced between Rs 40 and 80 lakh) and premium units (priced at Rs 80 lakh to 1.5 cr). A consumer survey study has revealed a distinct buyer tilt towards properties north of Rs. 90 lakhs. This uptrend is only expected to get more prominent this year, with a 5% capital value growth” for residential properties projected in calendar 2022.

Increased FDI flow and the comfort and reassurance guaranteed by the RERA have been key contributors to the growth, boosting NRI investments as well. We have also seen the emergence of online buying and selling of homes as a preferred mode in this period, prodding the real estate sector to be agile and adapt to digitization and innovation swiftly. Social media marketing is playing a major role in influencing decision-making, more so among young professionals in the IT/ITeS sector where many companies are on a hiring spree.

Another noteworthy trend emerging is the exponential growth in the demand for warehousing space, as the e-commerce segment continues to scale new heights with game-changing innovations. This sector is projected to grow at a CAGR of 20% in the financial year ’22-’23, with e-commerce contributing a whopping 36% to the total warehousing transaction business. Speed and new tech will play a crucial growth in this warehousing boom.

The pandemic has also underlined the need for flexi workplaces, which could still be a future asset segment. As employers continue to re-strategize workplace dynamics, quite a few co-working players are in the fray, building up inventory, for which they expect takers galore. However, a lot depends on which course the virus takes, going forward, even as we are on the threshold of endemicity, doctors opine. However, Covid has thrown several curve balls at us as soon as we have let our guard down. So perhaps, this is a wait-and-watch segment and the jury is still out.