Indian housing sentiment index soars, Ahmedabad emerges as frontrunner: Magicbricks report

Based on the preferences of over 4500 customers across 11 cities, Magicbricks launched its flagship Housing Sentiment Index (HSI) revealing a positive market outlook for the Indian residential real estate sector with an overall HSI of 149. According to Magicbricks report, despite inflationary pressures, the HSI across India remains robust with strong buyer confidence.

Ahmedabad emerged as the frontrunner with the highest HSI of 163, closely followed by Kolkata (160), Gurugram (157), and Hyderabad (156), propelled by enhanced infrastructure and upcoming new real estate projects.

According to Sudhir Pai, CEO, Magicbricks, "The current scenario of India's real estate sector reflects the most promising conditions witnessed in the past decade, instilling confidence among homebuyers and investors nationwide. It's also noteworthy that the demand is consistently surpassing available supply, showing encouraging signs of swift absorption when new inventory enters the market."

The report also identified that mid-age professionals (24-35 age group) demonstrated the highest HSI (154). Furthermore, consumers with annual incomes of Rs 10-20 lakh displayed the strongest aspirations for home buying, with HSI of 156.

Elaborating on the same, Abhishek Bhadra, Head of Research, Magicbricks chimed, "Our research indicates that homebuyers are demonstrating a notable willingness to invest up to four times their annual incomes, serving as a significant gauge of prevailing sentiment and overall optimism within the market. This outlook is supported by various factors, such as increasing incomes, consistent economic stability, and targeted government initiatives aimed at reinforcing the resilience of the real estate sector."

The report also revealed that a majority of homebuyers intend to make a purchase within 3 years, reflecting an outlook for both the present and future of the real estate market. Affordable housing had a dominant HSI of 152.

54 per cent of Indian buyers and more than 75 per cent of the female workforce prefer to invest in the stock market after real estate.

Customers employed in the Medical and Pharma (163) and Government sectors (158) exhibited a strong housing sentiment, possibly due to their jobs and correlated financial stability.

Homebuyers showed strong sentiment towards Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) (156) and Banks (152) for taking home loans owing to convenience, stability, favorable terms, and easy disbursal.