Mumbai looks to work from bigger, cheaper homes | Economic Times

MUMBAI: Home buyers in Mumbai are dreaming big. Affordability and the ongoing pandemic-induced need for bigger homes is pushing the average ticket size of property deals in the country’s commercial capital up by 50-100%.Average ticket sizes have grown to Rs 1.5-2 crore in the city up from around Rs 1 crore before the pandemic, developers and industry insiders say. The contrast is not only with respect to the average ticket size in the country’s most expensive property market, but also with regards to actual per sq ft prices that is allowing buyers to consider higher configurations.“Homebuyers’ rising preference for relatively bigger homes is coinciding with the price benefit they are receiving and is leading to rise in average ticket size in Mumbai. While prices have eased, configuration of apartments being bought by homebuyers have moved higher marginally,” said Ram Naik, Executive director, The Guardians Real Estate Advisory.Realty developers until recently have been aligning their offerings with market demand and shrinking apartments to make them affordable. However, the price drop and the need for bigger apartments has made them think again. While other property markets like Delhi, National Capital Region, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad are also witnessing the rising preference among homebuyers for bigger houses, the trend is getting amplified in Mumbai that is known for compact configurations.“People are looking to upgrade to bigger homes due to work from home and online education coupled with the record low housing loan rates, price correction and stamp duty benefit. This is the best situation one can be in terms of buying a property,” said Himanshu Parekh, property consultant operating in south and central part of Mumbai.According to him, the rising preference for bigger size apartments is visible across segments including luxury homes that are also selling faster.“Conclusion of deals for luxury apartments in Mumbai was taking time until now. But the pace has increased significantly over the last two months,” Naik said, adding that the firm has sold over 75 premium apartments worth Rs 300 crore in Sion locality of central Mumbai.Bigger apartments are being favoured across the city’s micro-markets such as Mulund, Ghatkopar, Kanjur Marg and Chembur and western suburbs of Borivali, Kandivali and Goregaon and not just in central Mumbai. “Post Covid-19, the bigger size apartments and apartments with balconies have come back in great demand. We have to manage good balance between the apartment size and ticket size to satisfy the customers’ new requirement wherein home has become the most secure place and investment as well,” said Rajeeb Dash, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, SD Corp, a Shapoorji Pallonji and Dilip Thacker Group company.According to him, the company’s both recent launches at central Mumbai’s Sewri and western suburb of Kandivali are seeing rising enquiries and sales of bigger size apartments.The average size of new urban apartments being launched has gone up since the last few months, as homebuilders have also started reacting to the fact that people are spending more time at home.By the third quarter of 2020, one-bedroom apartments in most urban areas increased to an average 500 square feet, up from around 400 square feet in March 2019, when the affordable luxury was in boom, brokers said.