Realty firms think small to target buyers on a budget
BENGALURU/MUMBAI:HOMES across Indian cities are becoming more compact as developers are trimming apartment sizes and even resizing in some cases to target buyers with smaller budgets.
After launching its Greenfield project in east Bengaluru around two years ago, Shriram Properties Pvt. Ltd recently repositioned the project as O2 Homes, launching fresh stock with apartment sizes smaller by 10% and unit prices lower by 6-10%. “Sales had become dull after the first year of the project launch. The repositioning and tweak in unit sizes worked well. We sold around 450 units in recent months,” MD M. Murali said.
In the 200-acre mixed-use Urbana township in Bengaluru, the Ozone Group is set to launch smaller homes priced at ₹25-40 lakh for one- and two-bedroom units. So far, the developer sold homes in the project’s earlier phases at an average ticket size of ₹70 lakh.
“Prime is a new community in Urbana based on what customers clearly want today—small-sized homes. As developers, we have no choice but to build what will bring in cash flow. It is a somewhat myopic view because by the time the project delivery happens in a few years, affordability of buyers would improve,” Ozone Group chief executive Srinivasan Gopalan said.
Affordability is a key factor in home-buying decisions today and realty firms are desperate to bring more buyers into the fray. As unsold inventory levels peak following a five-year-long slowdown, home sizes are becoming more customer-centric across price segments, including the luxury space.
“Space efficiency is key and compact two-bedroom and 1.5 bedroom homes are in demand,” said Mumbai-based architect Hafeez Contractor.