Why the Festive Season Is India’s Homebuying Season

Raahul Maroo, Founder & Managing Director, Tatvm Developers

In India, the festive season is much more than a period of celebration. It is also a seasonal calendar for some of the country’s most important financial decisions, and buying a home sits firmly at the centre of it. Beginning with Ganesh Chaturthi and extending through Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali, and into the subsequent auspicious occasions, the festive period creates a nearly four-month window in which families, developers, banks, governments, industry associations and other stakeholders converge around the housing market.

At the heart of this is the idea of an auspicious time, or muhurat. For many families, festivals represent a culturally significant opportunity to begin something as important as homeownership. The purchase, registration, possession or Griha Pravesh is therefore often planned around the festive calendar. What begins as a cultural tradition consequently creates a predictable and recurring cycle of economic activity.

Just as important, for Indian families, buying a home is rarely an individual financial decision. It is a family decision, often involving spouses, parents, children and, in many cases, extended family. The festive season brings families together, and with them the elders of the household, who are traditionally consulted before a decision of this size is made. It creates the time and social environment in which a decision that may have been under consideration for months can finally be discussed, evaluated and concluded.

But what does this have to do with real estate? Why would I say that there is a ‘festival’ for every homebuyer? It’s true that during festive periods, we see big discounts being offered by everyone from developers to interior designers. But for me personally, it’s more important to highlight the fact that each year, India has its own unique “home buying season” lasting four months, the festive season, when everything about home ownership comes together perfectly.

The importance of the season is also visible in the behaviour of homebuyers. Most Indian residential purchases are driven by end-use rather than purely investment considerations. A home is where a family intends to live, and the decision involves considerations ranging from location and schools to commuting, finances, amenities and the preferences of different generations. When families are together during the festive period, site visits and discussions naturally become easier.

The same dynamic extends to the Indian diaspora. For many NRIs, the festive and holiday period provides an opportunity to return to India, meet family members and visit properties. A season implies that there would be a certain amount of time during the year when the buyer, if he or she were living outside the country, will be involved in the decision-making process along with her/his family.

In addition, since every Indian celebrates the festival season, it makes sense for us to factor in our own financial calendars as well, salaried folks get more clarity about annual increments and bonuses from work, banks and housing-finance institutions ramp up their outreach activity, and developers synchronise their new launches, offers, sales campaign etc., in line with the festive quarter. This all contributes towards bettering the overall household preparedness levels of evaluating a purchase.

For instance, the importance of banks’ role cannot be underplayed in house buying transactions given that most buyers go into long term financing arrangements at such times, where cost and availability of credit play a crucial role. Since banks are usually busy meeting increased demand due to seasonal reasons, they tend to increase customer engagement during festive months with various promotional schemes. Thus, this period gives buyers ample opportunity to compare their options on interest rates, processing charges, loan structure & repayment obligation etc.

For developers, this period on the calendar is one where they plan out the launch of new projects and bring forward fresh inventories to entice buyers with more options from which to choose. This means there is an increased probability of those who have been researching possible places and schemes over several months making a buying decision towards the end of the year when the festive season kicks off.

In addition to consumers, the government and various industry associations are other key players in this ecosystem as policies, regulations, taxation, financing mechanisms and infrastructure developments play a big role in shaping the affordability and viability of homeownership in India.

These industry associations work towards raising awareness about relevant topics, facilitating communication between different stakeholders and addressing concerns related to the wider residential sector. In light of the concentrated nature of both consumer and industry activities, the significance of these entities becomes even more apparent in the context of the festive season.

Finally, this festival season links all members of the housing ecosystem, from buyer (aspirations) and family (collective decision), developer (inventory), banks (financing), government (regulatory & infrastructure) to industry associations (connectors).

It’s far more than just a great time for marketers in the real estate industry to showcase their products. This is an economic cycle that gets repeated every year with a reason ingrained within how we buy, finance and move into our homes in India. So it comes as no surprise that there exists a strong correlation between buying and moving, particularly with many preferring taking possession and conducting Griha Pravesh in an auspicious period. This has ramifications right along the housing cycle, influencing everything from possession schedules, leading to construction, handover dates, affecting booking timelines and eventually when families start looking for their next home.

This festive season will witness Indians coming closer than ever before. It’s time to celebrate with our loved ones and make their dreams of owning a house a reality. Festive seasons create the right occasion when you can bring your closest ones on the same page financially while simultaneously bringing all other stakeholders of the housing ecosystem into one room.

The strength of India’s festive homebuying season lies precisely in this convergence, an auspicious calendar, families coming together and an entire ecosystem preparing to facilitate one of the most consequential purchases a household can make.