India :Value buying in realty is back

2BHK preferred format, sub Rs 40 lakh segment attracting home buyers Anand Rawani and Neha Dewan NEW DELHI  VALUE buying is back in business. Realty buyers are primarily looking at the sub-40 lakh category to fulfill their dream home aspirations and it is the 2BHK which has emerged as the preferred format for buyers in these times.      SundayET spoke to a cross section of real estate developers, brokers and bankers to assess the ground situation on the kind of housing format and home loan size that is now gaining maximum flavour.      Most developers agree that the current hotselling flavour of the market is apartments ranging between Rs 25 to 40 lakh. According to Rajeev Talwar, group executive director, DLF, it is primarily the 2 and 3 BHKs which are finding buyers. "As far as prices are concerned, the sub-40 lakh is selling well in Bangalore. We have sold 1,200 units in Bangalore since the beginning of February this year. Similarly in Delhi we have sold 2,500 units since the beginning of the Financial Year. We will be coming up with more affordable housing projects across locations over the next three years."      Unitech official pegs it a little lower. As per a Unitech spokesperson, the sub-30 lakh category is faring well in these times. "We have sold flats in Noida, Gurgaon, Chennai, Mohali, Kolkata and Hyderabad in this range. It's mainly the 2 and 3 BHK with sizes between 800-1,000 sq ft respectively. In fact, in the first six months of this year, we have sold over 8 million sq ft of apartments, out of which 40% is in the price range of sub-30 lakh," he said.      Others feel that a combination offered with a study space is working out as an appealing factor. Says Rita Dixit, executive director, Jaypee Greens, "Options in the range of Rs 25-Rs 40 lakh are gathering momentum. Apartments which offer 2 and 3BHK with study space work out well. These typically range between 1,050-1,400 sq ft. Our projects offering such options, such as Classic and Kosmos, are bringing good business."      Not merely the property developers but even realty brokers echoed similar sentiments. Pankaj Jain, executive director of Realistic Realtors, a Delhi-based real estate brokerage firm said, "The 35 to 50 lakh segment is seeing bulk demand across locations. Demand for 2BHK with size ranging from 1,200 to 1,500 sq ft is high as it is an ideal size for a nuclear family."      The home loan enquiries coming to banks bear testimony to the market trend. According to Renu Sud Karnad, Jt MD, HDFC, "The segment where we are seeing a huge demand is in the price range of Rs 30-50 lakh in metros and bigger towns and around Rs 20-25 lakh in smaller towns."      Similarly, in the case of Bank of Rajasthan, where a predominant number of customers are from rural, semi-urban and urban centres, the average ticket size is below Rs 20 lakh. As per the loan portfolio of home loan of Bank of Rajasthan, the sub-Rs 20 lakh loans category constitute almost 95% of the total home loan portfolio.  BULK  DEMAND  The current hotselling flavour of the market is apartments ranging between Rs 25 to 40 lakh  Demand for 2BHK with sizes ranging from 1,200 to 1,500 sq ft is high  Banks seeing home loan disbursement in the range of Rs 30-50 lakh in metros and around Rs 20-25 lakh in smaller towns