Property searches surge 173%

The action in real estate seems to have shifted to tier II cities as people searching for property deals surged 173% in the first three months of calendar year 2018 in 25 tier II cities. These include Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Indore, Patna, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar and Surat, among others.

“Home search trends in 25 cities indicate 173% growth in traffic from tier II cities during the first quarter of 2018 compared to the first quarter of 2017,” according to a report by Makaan.com, an online real estate portal owned by Singapore-based Elara Technologies Pte. Ltd, which also owns Housing.com and Proptiger.com.

Ravi Bhushan, group chief product and technology officer of Housing.com, Proptiger.com and Makaan.com said, “There is a clear trend that comes to the fore with respect to the demand and supply equation in tier II cities. These cities are doubling up as major centres of economics and that is evident in the way that the housing market is shaping up. This pick-up in listings, searches and the intent of people to inquire about a purchase is encouraging for India’s real estate market.”

Other experts are also expecting a pick-up in the real estate market, especially in tier II cities, but not so soon.

“We were expecting a revival in real estate sector in tier II cities, given the government’s Make-in-india policy and infrastructure development like industrial corridors passing through different tier II cities and creation of special economic zones. But such significant jump so early is surprising,” said Samantak Das, chief economist and national director (research), Knight Frank India, a real estate consultancy firm.