Over the last couple of years, the top six cities in the country have seen an increase in the preference for more spacious apartments, i.e., 3 BHKs and 4 BHKs, owing to the need for additional space requirements, better investment potential, and a hybrid work culture, among several other factors, note the stakeholders in the real estate industry.
Although 2BHKs are still most preferred, the percentage of buyers looking for 3 and 4 BHK units observed an uptick, according to a report by NoBroker, a proptech company.
While the sales have been growing consistently due to a relatively stable economy and improved personal finances, the preferences of homebuyers are undergoing a transformation, and they are actively scaling up on size of an apartment are concerned, said Sankey Prasad, Chairman and Managing Director, Colliers.
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Data from the report shows demand for 3BHKs in Bengaluru at 39 per cent, Chennai at 37 per cent, Delhi NCR at 41 per cent, Hyderabad at 33 per cent, Mumbai at 11 per cent and Pune at 20 per cent.
“We have seen a multifold increase in demand, especially for 3 BHKs post-Covid, across age groups, including bachelors, families, and youth. This stems from the realisation of the importance of owning a house,” said Akhil Gupta, co- founder and CTO, NoBroker
Consumer behaviour
The demand for 3 BHKs (33 per cent) and 4 BHKs (8 per cent) across the major metropolitan cities has been growing since last year, and the trend is expected to continue, he added. Adding to it, Prasad said that the same group of homebuyers who were interested in 1 or 2 BHKs about 8 to 12 months ago are now exploring 3 or 4 BHK apartments.
Builders too recorded an increase in the sales of 3 BHKs. “Across the Puravankara group, we saw an increase of 47 per cent in 3BHK home sales between the calendar years 2020 and 2022,” said Abhishek Kapoor, CEO, Puravankara Limited. Puravankara and Provident Housing offer apartments in 1/2/3/4 BHK configurations.
Similarly, Sunteck Realty, which offers 1/2/3/4 BHK along with duplex apartments, estimates that the demand for larger and more spacious houses will continue to grow with the increase in the standard of living and quality of life.
The rising inclination towards quality living can be attributed to the fact that 3 and 4 BHK apartments have better investment potential, noted Prasad.
“From an asset appreciation point of view, 3 and 4 BHK apartments tend to fetch more value as compared to their 1 or 2 BHK counterparts. Going forward, this trend will continue with the increasing purchase power parity, more homebuyers will opt for bigger spaces as a desire to upgrade and scale up,” he added.
According to Kamal Khetan, CMD, Sunteck Realty Limited, real estate market in India is projected to increase at a CAGR of 19.5 per cent, and is estimated to reach $1 trillion by FY30, against the backdrop of increasing industrial activity, rising income, and urbanisation.
The proptech company uses a two-pronged approach to ascertain consumer behavior. In addition to its database of 30 million users, it also conducted a survey in which over 26,000 customers from across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Delhi-NCR participated.