Real Estate Year-End Review and Outlook for 2022 By Mr. Rajat Rastogi, Executive Director, Runwal Group.

Mr. Rajat Rastogi, Executive Director, Runwal Group:

Sector Performance in 2021

Real estate market bounced back strongly in 2021. The lockdown last year made people realize the need of owning a home, leading to a surge in demand. The incentives announced by the government and lower interest rates and various offers by developers gave further impetus to the industry. In Maharashtra, the stamp duty waiver scheme offered by the Govt. led to a significant boost in sales towards the end of last year. A lot of first-time millennial homebuyers too entered the market. Developers with quality products, strong delivery track record and sound financial health have seen a significant upswing in business.

Location, connectivity and amenities became crucial deciding factors for the consumer. Many of them also realized they needed a larger space. Homes in societies with better health and security facilities took precedence. Projects like condominiums or integrated townships are in demand because facilities like gym, recreation, gardens and daily essential stores are all located within the society premises. An extra room has become a mandatory consumer preference and open spaces & amenities have become equally important. The pandemic has changed not only buying preferences but also selling methods. Developers have invested in technology and digital channels as well to reach out to consumers in a more efficient way.

At Runwal Group, we continue to see robust sales growth across all our projects in MMR. Our rapid construction pace even during the pandemic, attractive offers and quality product offerings at a reasonable price point have been the hallmark of our consistent success. We also invested heavily in technology, digitizing our sales process, making it far more streamlined and convenient for the consumers.

Outlook 2022

We expect demand to remain robust, especially in the affordable housing segment and in ready to move in or soon to be ready projects. Prices will firm up owing to the rising input costs as at some point developers will have to stop absorbing further increase in input costs. Keeping aside the threat posed by the new variant, the real estate sector should see a great 2022.

As a group, we have seen significant increase in revenues consistently and we expect the same trend to continue in 2022. We have a positive outlook and new launches, deliveries and further expansions are in the pipeline for the year.