What Has Led To Pune's Affordable Housing Crunch?

Kishor Pate

No discussion about the hottest real estate markets in India today is complete without a generous reference to Pune. In fact, Pune is one of the most-talked-about and desirable places in India to live and work in today. 

People are attracted to this city because of its vibrant job market, the much more clement climate and environment when compared to the neighbouring financial capital Mumbai, and - very importantly - the superior quality and spread of options in housing.

However, there are some important factors that property buyers who are not familiar with Pune should be aware of so that they can make the right choice while buying their homes here. Pune is doubtlessly a marvellous place to live in, but this has over the recent years actually become a problem.

The areas closest to Pune's business district and Information Technology hubs have gained attention for being the most desirable places to buy or rent a home in. However, as the popularity of these areas increased, so did the cost of living. Because these areas are seen as high profile and naturally attract people from the higher income brackets, most of the housing supply there is now in the premium segment. The property rates of such housing also drive those of non-premium housing upward.

It is not only real estate prices which are affected in these locations, but the overall cost of living. The high property prices in these areas mean that shopping outlets, entertainment centers, restaurants and healthcare facilities all have to pay much higher rents. The higher costs are directly passed on to the customers in these catchments. Moreover, because of the overall premium ethos of these locations, they tend to attract retail, hospitals and F&B outlets which cater primarily to high-income customers.   

True, Pune is one of the most vibrant cities because of its high lifestyle quotient, spunky neighbourhoods and Information Technology hubs. Unfortunately, the very residents who made the city this upscale, happening place where everyone wants to live and work are now challenged by the increased property prices and cost of living. In Pune, affordable housing options are becoming fewer and far between.

As a result of the rapidly increasing capital values, housing rents in the most popular areas have also been rising inexorably, and this trend shows no signs of stopping any time soon. Right-priced housing is decreasing because of the swanky new apartment buildings in the more happening locations. Pune's inner locations and those closest to its IT hubs now have no affordable housing left for people to buy, even as the influx of new renters in these limited areas drives up demand and prices for a limited amount of units available for rent.

The only solutions would appear to lie in Pune's far-flung outskirts, where land is still cheap and developers can keep their prices low. However, these areas are also very far from most of the city's workplace hubs, and also lack the kind of support infrastructure that makes decent living possible. Fortunately, Pune still has a small handful of locations which are neither too remote not too costly for budget home buyers.

Among these, Undri in the Southeast of the city and Ambegaon in the South West are two of the best-connected areas which are still receiving a decent supply of affordable housing and also rapid infrastructure deployment. Keshavnagar and Manjri in the East are also still quite affordable, though relatively less enabled in terms of infrastructure. These locations offer home buyers the benefits of rational housing prices as well as very good connectivity in terms of road network, public transport and proximity to good schools, shopping, entertainment and affordable healthcare.

Contributed by -  Kishor Pate, CMD – Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd.

How Does Inflation Impact Property Market

Contrary to the general belief, real estate prices do not necessarily react to inflationary conditions,   feels Arvind Jain, Managing Director of Pride Group.

It is interesting to note that how most people think of inflation. Apparently, the most prevalent concept of inflation is something like what happens to spectators at a cricket match. At some point during the match, the people in the front rows of the stadium rise to their feet to get a better glimpse of what is happening on the field. As a result, the spectators in the back rows cannot see the action clearly so they rise up too. Very soon, everyone is on their feet!

Another perception among most people is that inflation drives up the prices of everything uniformly. That is why it is commonly believed that real estate prices rise simply because the cost rise of everything. This is incorrect. The fact is that real estate prices will either fall or remain static in an inflationary environment.

Inflation is a dynamic that is largely dictated by the cost of credit. This is how it works - the cost of essentialities such as food grains and petrol rises, while the common man's income remains the same. In other words, his spending power reduces. Banks make a note of the fact that the baseline cost of living has increased and recalibrate their loan interest rates upward.

Because the cost of borrowing has increased while incomes have remained static, people become wary of taking loans for anything - including home purchase. The natural reaction from real estate developers would be to bring property prices down so that sales pick up again. This does happen in some cities and locations, but not everywhere. Here are the reasons.

Many developers are as dependent on the cost of borrowing as their buyers are. This is especially the case with smaller developers in Tier 2 or Tier 3 cities who have not launched many projects and have therefore not been able to create a self-sustaining churn of capital. Such developers are able to react to the reduced sales brought on by inflation by lowering their rates.

Such developers are able to do this because though the overall cost of development remains more or less constant, land acquisition costs are lower in smaller cities. Price reductions are the last recourse for ailing developers, but smaller developers with lower investments into their projects and greater dependence on the cost of lending can and will offer them if they perceive this to be the only option.

If even this last course of action fails, the developer goes bankrupt and is forced to surrender all business interests to the bank, or sell them to a more established player. This is, in fact, one of the integral factors of the process of consolidation, wherein more and more smaller operators give way to larger players. 

The scenario is different for larger developers who are active in the primary cities. Having been in the real estate business longer, they have been able to achieve a degree of capitalization that reduces their dependence of debt funding. However, their investments in the land required to build projects in the larger cities are naturally higher.

Such developers are not able to bring down the pricing of their properties despite a slowing down in sales. However, they are able to weather the inflationary storm longer because of their healthier capitalization. For this reason, established developers in larger cities will not use price reductions to boost inflation-impacted sales. At the same time, they cannot raise their prices in tandem with the natural laws of property appreciation, since this would impact their competitiveness on the market.

This means that in the case of well-located quality projects by established developers, inflation will have the effect of keeping prices static until reduced inflation brings down the cost of credit. Once this happens, prices will rise again without having gone down at any point.

It goes without saying that understanding how inflation impacts short and long-term property pricing in different cities, locations and projects can make a big financial difference to prospective home buyers.