The real estate sector has started showing signs of revival. According to the FICCI-NAREDCO-Knight Frank India’s latest survey findings for the period of October-December 2017, the realty sector is slowly but surely coming out of the doldrums.

“The uptick stems from better acceptance of structural reforms such as the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) and the goods and services tax (GST) that pulled industry sentiments down in earlier part of the year,” it said.
The industry’s sentiments had hit the rock bottom in July-September 2017. But adjustments pertaining to the structural reforms have lifted expectations in October-December.
The report said that majority of the stakeholders are hopeful of a spike in
residential launches, largely in the affordable housing segment, courtesy the
government’s impetus in building affordable homes.
At least 52% stakeholders are hopeful of sales volumes picking up, indicating a significant surge in the sentiment over the previous quarter. Despite a price crack across most residential markets, 56% respondents felt that residential prices would improve over the next six months. “This revival in sentiments can be attributed to the hope that more organised players will take the lead in the growth of the sector, leading to more transparency and ease of doing business,” it said.
“Going forward, we believe that the real estate sector would witness better transparency and participation from organised players, which should further boost market sentiments,” the report quoted Samantak Das, chief economist and national director – research at Knight Frank India, as saying.
According to the report, at least 54% stakeholders were hopeful about the increase in new office supply over the next six months, up from just 38% in the previous quarter. The level of optimism is the highest since October-December 2016. “The office market registers an improvement in future sentiments with majority of the stakeholders opining that the office market will either improve in the coming six months or will hold onto its current reins but will definitely not get depressed. The respondents believe that the coming six months will see an improvement in the new office supply owing to a robust under-construction pipeline in key cities like NCR and Bangalore that has given the stakeholders some optimism,” the report said.
Majority of the stakeholders opine that leasing activity will remain steady in the next six months. In line with the trends, lack of quality office supply and steady leasing will put an upward pressure on rentals. Nearly 56% of respondents opine that office rental will move up in the next six months.