Gone are the days when you thought of owning a house when close to retirement. The average age of homebuyers in India is now down to 30s, especially those looking at properties in the sub-₹1 crore price bracket. On the other hand, those in their mid-40s or upwards are increasingly upgrading to premium homes, priced at ₹1 crore and above.
A rise in income, better salaries, and easy mortgage rates of less than 10 per cent, apart, there is a changing mindset amongst millennials - who now look at “owning” a home. Infrastructure thrust across cities and career options are influencing buying patterns too.
India’s per capita net national income (at current prices) for 2022-23 stands at ₹1.72 lakh, according to estimates from the National Statistical Office (NSO). This marks an almost 100 percent increase from the per capita income in 2014-15, of ₹86,647.
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“The average age of a homebuyer is now in his 30s, somewhere around 30, 35 or less than 40; as against previous instances where the mean age was 40-45 or upwards,” Boman Rustom Irani, President, CREDAI, and Chairman and MD of Rustomjee Group, told businessline.
Some realtors said the average age of a first-time buyer in 2022 was 33–36 years and one out of every three homes sold was to such a buyer.
According to Irani, nearly 65 per of an Indian investor’s wealth goes towards buying a house. .In this context, owning a home is a stable and accretive investment option.
Investing in Real Estate
Real estate consultancy firm ANAROCK in a recent survey found that 57 per cent of its respondents preferred investment in real estate. And of these, 48 per cent were in the age-bracket of 25-35 years.
In 2019, pre-Covid, just 20 per cent of India’s respondents in the same age-group wanted to own homes.
One of India’s premier developers pointed out that a 30-year-old first time home-buyer is more likely to find it easier to get a home loan at better interest rates and easier repayment terms as compared to a first time home-buyer in his mid-forties.
Millennials have opted for homes in the sub-₹1 crore range hoping to upgrade after closing the loan or selling the property, post a 10 year-odd period. Appreciation of property value is being factored in too.
“One of the defining changes we have seen in the Indian housing market, post Covid, is how previously rent favouring millennials are now prime drivers of housing sales,” said Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Group, adding that the trend has moved from a “brief phase that would die out” to a well-entrenched reality.
The Job Factor
Migration to cities with better job opportunities and career growth is another determining factor. Places like Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru are key examples.
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ANAROCK while analysing the age bracket of ‘home seekers’ (prospective buyers) said 33 per cent of such respondents in Bengaluru were aged within 25-35 years; Hyderabad had the highest number of property seekers at 55 per cent; followed by Pune at 45 per cent.