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<keyword id="20503776" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="rental-income" source="keywords">Rental income</keyword> in major <keyword id="20026638" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-cities" source="keywords">Indian cities</keyword> has risen by 14.6% every year, and a meager 2.6% on a quarterly basis, said a recent report by Magicbricks, a <keyword id="19895040" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="real-estate" source="keywords">real estate</keyword> platform. Explaining the rental income dynamics, Abhishek Bhadra, Head of Research, Magicbricks, noted that with economic activity peaking, they anticipate continued growth in both <keyword id="21466032" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rental-demand" source="keywords">rental demand</keyword> and rents in the short to medium term. "Additionally, the supply of rental units is expected to improve as the stock of under-construction properties nears completion. Overall, the current landscape presents a promising opportunity for landlords and investors, encouraging greater participation in the <keyword id="20052080" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rental-market" source="keywords">rental market</keyword>," said the Head of Research. Rental income is a major source of earning for millions of Indians. <keyword id="19932272" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="navi-mumbai" source="keywords">Navi Mumbai</keyword> saw 6.2 % jump quarterly, while Hyderabad (4.2%), and Ahmedabad (4%) exhibited the most significant increase in average rents. In Navi Mumbai, the average rent increased from Rs 28.99 per square feet (psf) per month in Jan-Mar 2024 to Rs 30.78 psf per month in Apr-Jun 2024. Similarly, average rents in Hyderabad increased from Rs 22.01 psf to Rs 22.93 psf per month, while in Ahmedabad, rents rose from Rs 17.25 psf to Rs 17.94 psf per month. The report observed a significant 14.8% quarterly increase in rental demand during this period, following a 16% quarterly increase in the previous quarter. However, the report asserted that the supply has decreased by 2.2% quarterly across the cities due to high absorption rates, leading to a rise in rents. The highest rents are in cities of Mumbai (Rs 82.28 psf) per month, Delhi (Rs 33.72 psf) per month and <keyword id="19919131" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="thane" source="keywords">Thane</keyword> (Rs 29.84 psf) per month. The <keyword id="22641758" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Magicbricks-report" source="keywords">Magicbricks report</keyword> further observed that average rents in Greater Noida is Rs 14.52 psf per month, Rs 20.10 psf per month in Noida and Rs 28 psf per month in Bengaluru. With high rental demand and rents, <keyword id="19951618" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="residential-real-estate" source="keywords">residential real estate</keyword> continues to be a lucrative investment market. While across the top 13 cities, the average rental yield is 3.6%, investments in Ahmedabad, Pune and Kolkata demonstrated the highest rental yields (3.8%), observed the report.

Rental income in key Indian cities spiked over 14%, says Magicbricks report

<ul><li>Pan-India, average rents increased 7% in the October to December quarter, QoQ. </li><li>The rental housing demand increased 8.5% and the supply decreased 17% in 2022 </li><li>There was a higher renting activity initially in 2022 as migrant workforce returned to their work locations. </li></ul>The average home rents went up by 13.5% in 2022 as offices opened up and migrant workers returned to their places of work, says a Magicbricks report. Rental housing demand increased 8.5% and the supply decreased 17% last year. When there is high demand and less supply, rents go up. “The pan-India average rent continued to inch up in 2022, displaying improved strength of the rental housing market in the country,” the report said. For October-December 2022, pan-India average rents increased 7% QoQ while rental demand decreased 18.1% QoQ says Magicbricks Rental Index. The report observed that in 13 major cities, there was a higher renting activity in the initial quarters of 2022 as migrant workforce returned to their work locations, exhausting the existing inventory. The Covid-19 pandemic had led to thousands of migrant workers leaving their cities to go back to their own cities, towns and villages as jobs had dried up. The increase in rent was 12.6% in Gurgaon, 9% in Noida, 8% in Hyderabad in the December ending quarter as compared to the earlier quarter. At the lower end, rents went up by 1.6% in Chennai, and remained flat in Kolkata and Delhi at 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively. The report also observed that NCR registered the maximum dip (26.6%) in rental demand, followed by Mumbai (13.9%), Kolkata (12.3%) and Chennai (6%). All cities tracked by Magicbricks observed a decline in availability of rental units, except Mumbai and Thane that witnessed a QoQ growth of 2.9% and 1.9%, respectively. Greater Noida witnessed the maximum decline in availability (16.1%) while Ahmedabad observed the least decline (1.7%). Sudhir Pai, CEO, Magicbricks, says, “The Indian rental housing market recovered steadily during the first two quarters of 2022, with rental demand peaking during those months. With the start of the new financial year, one can expect the rental demand to pick up again and increasing home-loan Ahmedabad observed the least decline (1.7%).rates and economic uncertainty may also encourage prospective homebuyers to defer their purchase decisions and opt for rental homes.” Since last May the RBI has raised the repo rates six times which has meant that h<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/news/how-you-can-handle-the-higher-home-loan-emi-burden/articleshow/97725816.cms">ome loan interest rates have gone up</a> from 7% to 9.5%. “The current global economic scenario of rising interest rates that can temper buying demand, geo-political tensions and the increasing number of lay-offs in the global IT industry could potentially have a mixed impact on Indian real estate markets,” Pai said. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/news/how-you-can-handle-the-higher-home-loan-emi-burden/articleshow/97725816.cms">Don't be in a hurry to prepay but plan EMIs better, say experts as home loan burden set to rise</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/post-pandemic-recruitment-is-either-partially-mostly-or-fully-remote-as-per-report/articleshow/97698791.cms">Post pandemic, more organizations are moving towards e-recruitment, says a survey by HirePro</a>

Demand-supply mismatch pushes home rents across India by 13.5% in 2022: Magicbricks

<keyword id="6358993" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="demand">Demand</keyword> for <keyword id="35519" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="home-loans">home loans</keyword> in the mid and high-range segments is on the rise, showed a survey by <keyword id="691108" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="MagicBricks">Magicbricks</keyword>. It showed that that nearly 38 per cent consumers want to take a home loan ranging between ₹30 lakh and ₹1 crore. A total of around 46 per cent of the consumer preference is now in the range of ₹30 lakh-₹1 crore and above category, with most of the demand being generated from the key residential markets of Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi. The Magicbricks report said that the demand revival can be attributed to several reasons like need for an extra room due to 'work from home' (WFH), reduction in circle rates, stamp duty and low interest rates. As per the poll, about 20 per cent prospective home buyers are planning to borrow a home loan between ₹50 lakh and ₹1crore and above category. Commenting on the consumer trend, Sudhir Pai, CEO, Magicbricks, said: "Thanks to the recent initiatives by the Central and the State governments, we are witnessing a rise in demand for home loans for mid-segment and high range properties." "The market sentiment seems to be well aligned to the demand and reflects the same as consumer search data on Magicbricks Home Loans suggests that the average loan amount searched on the platform is ₹34 lakh. This augurs well for the industry and indicates that transactions are picking up gradually across all segments of residential real estate," Pai said. The survey further showed that most of the demand is being generated from the key residential markets of Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. Besides home loans, loan against property (LAP) and balance transfer seems to be gaining currency in terms of consumer preference, it said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/sachin-tendulkar-picks-up-a-strategic-stake-in-edtech-unicorn-unacademy-will-also-develop-a-sports-learning-category-on-the-platform/articleshow/81166377.cms">Sachin Tendulkar picks up a strategic stake in edtech unicorn Unacademy – will also develop a sports learning category on the platform</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/heranba-industries-ipo-is-off-to-a-decent-start-heres-why-investment-experts-and-retail-investors-are-excited/articleshow/81169631.cms">Heranba Industries IPO is off to a decent start — Here’s why investment experts and retail investors are excited</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/dassault-aviation-has-an-india-it-services-unit-offering-defence-msmes-a-digital-trial-room-where-they-can-test-their-products-to-bag-more-contracts/articleshow/81183313.cms">INTERVIEW: Dassault Aviation has an India IT services unit offering defence MSMEs a digital ‘trial room’ where they can test their products to bag more contracts</a>

Indians are taking out bigger loans to buy homes in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi

<ul><li>IT companies may not be hiring talent as slowdown curbs growth, but employees continue to search for jobs online. Naukri’s monthly active users at 12.1 million. </li><li>Cricket continued to give a boost to online food ordering apps in March. Daily active users online continue to increase month-on-month. </li><li>Despite the popularity of dating apps, young Indians continue to frequently visit online marriage portals and apps to find their true love. Matrimony apps see a jump in monthly and daily active users in March. </li></ul>On the face of it, there may be little or no connection between the white willow and online food ordering, but data shows that women in blue made Indians rather hungry in the month of March. And yes, most Indians also are as keen on marriage as ever, with matrimonial portals continuing to see higher month-on-month user metrics and app downloads. Three years after the pandemic struck, Indians are still addicted to their apps and are still looking for their dream job, if they are not planning their next vacation. From ordering food online to looking for jobs and homes online, Indian consumers are not putting the brakes on their online purchases just yet, even after the economy opened up completely post the lockdowns. App downloads continued in March as did higher monthly traffic across key consumer tech platforms. In the month of March, monthly and daily active users continued to surge across apps catering to consumer needs like online food ordering, travel, property rentals/purchases, groceries or even jobs. Yes, job searches have seen an unprecedented surge in the month of March shows data from Sensor Tower’s monthly data print. Leading technology services players may have slowed down on hiring, but employees are still flocking to job portals. According to a report by Bank of America, Naukri maintained its totem pole position in MAUs (monthly active users) with 12.1 million (+7.2% month on month) users and witnessed increase in daily active user base at 2.1 million (+6% MoM) in <keyword id="10294782" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="march-2023" source="Orion">March 2023</keyword>. LinkedIn has the highest DAUs or daily active users at 3.7 million and is a clear leader in terms of user retention at 33% followed by Naukri at 18%, says the report. Data shows that consumer apps have continued to see good traction in the month of March 2023 compared to February. What consumers have been interestingly visiting less frequently —- are the beauty apps like Nykaa and Purplle — whose traffic is down month-on-month. Beauty brands believe that omnichannel and physical store visits are the reason for the decline in online purchases. Food delivery &amp; grocery continue to see demand According to Bank of America’s India Internet report, a majority of online food delivery apps saw an increase in fresh app downloads and user metrics, while Swiggy saw a marginal decline in fresh downloads. Online food delivery apps launched special match day games to increase engagement, which resulted in higher ordering too. While Zomato launched ZPL prediction, Swiggy launched Match Day Mania. Not surprising that monthly active users of Zomato and Swiggy grew 4.9%/4.6% MoM to 53 million/35 million. Daily active users for both Zomato and Swiggy increased 2-3% MoM to 6.1 million/4.4 million, respectively. Domino’s Pizza continued to be third in all metrics. Swiggy showed a higher retention at 13% vs Zomato at 11%. Real estate continues to be hot property online Housing continued to see the highest online traffic, as searches for rented and ownership continued to jump. Both monthly active users and app downloads were healthy for online players. Monthly active users increased sequentially for all the apps catering to housing, while daily active users grew for 99acres and Housing. Traffic on Magicbricks remained stable. Monthly active users on 99acres MAUs witnessed steep growth +14.3% compared to February. In terms of user retention, Housing continues to lead at 11%, followed by 99acres and Magicbricks at 9%. Revenge travel is still a big deal With the onset of summer, consumers are planning their next trip, which has resulted in strong traction for online travel apps like Cleartrip and Makemytrip. User metrics improved for Cleartrip, GoIbibo and MakeMyTrip; while Yatra and EaseMyTrip witnessed a decline, says Bank of America. MakeMyTrip monthly and daily users inched upwards (+9%/4% MoM) ahead of the upcoming summer holiday season in May/June 2023. Cleartrip MAUs/DAUs both grew 44.8% MoM to 1.3 million /0.1 million, respectively, majorly driven by launch of bus services in over 90 cities and various offers like zero convenience fees and flat 10% off on all bus bookings. MakeMyTrip continues to be the leader in MAUs, DAUs and retention; with 15.8 million MAUs/1.5 million DAUs while Goibibo has 8.5 million MAUs/ 0.7 million DAUs. High five for fashion apps As social distancing has given way to more contact intensive interactions, demand for fashion apparel has also increased meaningfully. Consumers continue to look for bargains online and Ajio’s All Star sale has delivered the numbers. According to data, Ajio’s monthly active users showed a sharp increase sequentially as downloads of the app increased. Ajio’s MAU/DAU base rocketed 22%/26% sequentially. Myntra/Nykaa Fashion’s MAU base improved 3% MoM each while DAU base saw a slight 1-2% decline. In terms of user retention, Myntra is at 17% followed by Ajio at 16%, says the report. Marriages are forever Young Indians continue to look for their perfect partner. User metrics and downloads witnessed an increase across all apps. Shaadi.com continued to be a leader with monthly and daily active users at 9 million/2.9 million, respectively in March 2023. Jeevansathi’s monthly numbers grew 13% month-on-month, while daily users increased by 8% compared to February. BharatMatrimony user metrics remained largely stable. Jeevansathi has the highest user retention at 34% followed by BharatMatrimony at 33%. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/markets/news/-some-sectors-will-benefit-from-lower-energy-prices-in-fy24-a-balasubramanian/articleshow/99722850.cms">Earnings to remain volatile in FY24, but some sectors will benefit from lower energy prices, says Aditya Birla Sun Life MF’s CEO A Balasubramanian</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/zepto-preps-for-public-listing-in-2-years-brings-in-ramesh-bafna-as-cfo-to-lead-ipo-process/articleshow/99514143.cms">Zepto preps for public listing in 2 years; Brings in Ramesh Bafna as CFO to lead IPO process</a>

Consumers continue to throng apps in search of Roti, Kapda & Makaan, March sees healthy user metrics and app downloads

<ul><li>Investment in residential real estate is a very different kettle of fish than end-user homebuying, says Prashant Thakur of Anarock group. </li><li>There has been an 11% appreciation in <keyword id="35507" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="property-prices" source="Orion">property prices</keyword> in the last five years. </li><li><keyword id="1128826" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rental-yields" source="Orion">Rental yields</keyword> also have also gone up in top 7 cities in 2022, as offices and schools reopened. </li><li>All the factors that drove up capital appreciation and rental yields are firmly in place, says Anarock. </li></ul>A recovery in property prices and rise in rental yields in 2022 has made investing in residential properties attractive yet again, according to a report by Anarock, a real estate consultant. Last year, property prices went up by 6% across the top 7 cities. In contrast, property prices in 2021 remained either constant or appreciated by 3-4% maximum. Over a five-year period, however, an 11% property price appreciation was seen across the top 7 cities – rising from an average of ₹5,551 per sq ft. in 2018 to approximately ₹6,150 per sq ft in 2022. “Investment in residential real estate is a very different kettle of fish than end-user homebuying. When the intention is returns on investment, knowing how the housing asset class is performing is of prime importance. From a return-on-investment perspective, there are two buckets to check – capital appreciation and rental yields,” said Prashant Thakur, head of research at Anarock group, a real estate consulting firm. Housing sales have been slumping since 2017, which ended in huge inventory build up, which also muted growth in property prices. “Before the Covid-19 pandemic, property prices across cities remained range-bound due to a prolonged demand slowdown,” said Anarock. The report said that after the pandemic, demand soared across cities – as did developers’ input costs – causing prices to rise, particularly in 2021 and 2022. Branded developers who now account for most of the sales, have also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/people-ready-to-pay-15-20-premium-for-health-and-wellness-amenities-in-housing-properties-dhaval-ajmera/articleshow/95832362.cms">not shied away from price hikes</a> on the back of strong demand and rising construction costs. Bengaluru and Hyderabad saw the maximum 5-yearly increase – of 10% – in average property prices in the last five years in the top 7 cities, which include Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Chennai. What’s your interest rate? The cost of owning has also gone up, especially since late last year. Since May 2022, the Reserve Bank of India has<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rbi-hikes-interest-rates-by-25-basis-points-to-6-5-says-core-inflation-remains-sticky/articleshow/97716217.cms"> increased interest rates six times</a>, with the latest rate hike coming in February 2023. This takes the base interest rates to 6.5% For those who are keen on taking a loan to buy or invest in a housing property, it’s not going to be a cheap journey. Not only will they have to be ready for longer tenure loans, they might also look at <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/news/how-you-can-handle-the-higher-home-loan-emi-burden/articleshow/97725816.cms">pre-paying certain amounts to </a>ensure the EMI burden isn’t too high. “The RBI will likely take a pause after a spate of interest rate hikes, so growth momentum will continue. 2023 will continue to be driven by end-user demand, but serious long-term investors will find the market dynamics more than favourable. Property prices are likely to rise by another 5-8% in the larger cities – this bodes well for investors focused on capital appreciation, but also means that rental demand will increase,” said Anarock. Rent versus EMI For those who are keen on paying their EMIs with the rent they make from a property, they must ensure that such properties are in urban areas. “The current rental demand will remain strong in all cities as urban work opportunities rise and more people migrate to cities,” the real estate consultancy said in a note. In 2020, rental yields had declined across most cities compared to the year before — as a natural fallout of the pandemic. As people worked from home and children attended schools from home too, many urban salaried individuals migrated to hometowns to save on rents. In 2021, rental yields rose but were still below 2019 levels. However, the year of 2022, with the post Covid reopening, led to a decent rise in rental yields – breaching pre-Covid levels. The sudden spurt in demand was driven by offices and schools reopening. According to a Magicbricks report, the average home rents went up by 13.5%% in 2022. The CEO of the property portal, Sudhir Pai, also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/demand-supply-mismatch-pushes-home-rents-across-india-by-13-5-in-2022-magicbricks/articleshow/97804664.cms">predicted that rentals</a> could rise going ahead as prospective homebuyers may defer their purchase decisions to opt for rental homes due to rising interest rates and economic uncertainty. ‘Avoid under-researched investments’ “All the factors that drove up capital appreciation and rental yields are firmly in place, and the profitability potential for both investment rationales remains promising. There is little reason to be pessimistic in the current year, though under-researched investments and a short-term profit perspective must be avoided in 2023,” said Anarock. However, 2023 will face some headwinds in terms of economic slowdown and inflationary pressure, and this needs to be factored into all investment decisions that also includes real estate, the consulting firm says. It also advises that those who intend to invest should look for larger homes instead of small and compact homes – and the former will see more demand, thanks to the changing tastes of home buyers and tenants alike. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/budget-to-aid-flagging-affordable-home-segment-boosts-demand-with-infra-push/articleshow/97556770.cms">Budget to aid flagging affordable home segment, boosts demand with infra push</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/catching-em-early-early-stage-startups-shine-as-their-investor-pool-widens/articleshow/97918089.cms">Catching ‘em early: Early-stage startups shine as their investor pool widens</a>

Buying a house as an investment? No need to be pessimistic says Anarock

This festive season, the Indian home buyer has never had it so good. Indian real estate, especially the sales in residential segment is back near pre-pandemic levels and increasing on a month-on-month record basis. In some select regions, the number of residential units sold is said to be at decadal highs. An accompanying uptick in the realty stock prices indicates that the overall trend of realty resurgence is not a flash in the pan occurrence but a trend supported and ratified by fundamental on-ground realities, which should give the prospective home buyer further confidence. So, what does this portend for the future homebuyer? To better understand these phenomena and their implications for the home buyers, one needs to examine them in detail. So, what does this portend for the future homebuyer? To better understand these phenomena and their implications for the home buyers, one needs to examine them in detail. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Resurgence in home buying, backed by ground realities" comment="subhead" text="Resurgence in home buying, backed by ground realities">Resurgence in home buying, backed by ground realities</cmsannotation> A recent CII-ANAROCK joint study reveals that the sales of residential properties in the top seven cities in H12021 were 43% higher than in H12021. In terms of new launches as well, H12021 saw a whopping 130% change. As per a report by Knight Frank, in September, the registrations were 87% higher compared to the pre-pandemic period of September 2019. And experts believe this momentum will continue in the festive season. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What is driving the demand?" comment="subhead" text="What is driving the demand?">What is driving the demand?</cmsannotation> The demand is also fuelled by factors like the lowest-ever interest rates for housing finance loans and easy availability of credit for the home buyer. The Government too has granted a concession to the realty sector to tide over the pandemic-induced slowdown with regulatory tax and duty cuts. While this has provided encouragement for the buyers, it has also enhanced government coffers in these tough times. Another significant catalyst of this demand is the fact the tier II and III developers laden with credit crunch due to the NBFC crisis are increasingly aligning themselves with tier I players. The homebuyer is happy with this consolidation and willing to pay a premium to deal with a tier I developer, as he is assured of the product quality, additional amenities, and timely delivery without any cost overruns. The other important factor at play is the improvement in capacity for a homebuyer looking to purchase property. The Covid-19 induced lockdown led to cautious spending on essentials and curb on non-essentials during this period, and hence prospective homebuyers have a potential surplus funds to allocate wisely. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Increasing demand for bigger houses" comment="subhead" text="Increasing demand for bigger houses">Increasing demand for bigger houses</cmsannotation> A recent Magicbricks PropIndex Report Q2 shows that the increase in home sales in Mumbai in the second quarter was primarily of 2-3 BHKs registered, and this was 10% higher compared to Q1 and 18% more on a YoY basis. Experts opine that the main underlying driving force of this phenomenon is the success of the ‘Work From Home’ (WFH) experiment. Having experienced the flexibility and commute-less remote work, the home buyer in Mumbai now prefers bigger homes to accommodate their remote hybrid WFH model. And not just WFH, even children’s online schooling is set to become a norm and hence one needs to factor the need for additional space. Consumers are also looking at houses set in an integrated set-up, that are well managed and are equipped to take care of all basic necessities. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Demand fuelled price rise" comment="subhead" text="Demand fuelled price rise">Demand fuelled price rise</cmsannotation> With increasing demand from new home buyers, developers are seeing a trend of declining ready-to-move-in inventory and are resorting to more new launches to fulfil this opportunity. Many developers have already successfully passed on the 4-5% increase to offset inflation and liquidity issues to their buyers. With increased demand, the sales tempo is likely to further pick up fuelled by various demand drivers. Experts predict another 4-5% hike in costs of residential properties for the new homebuyers in the near future, albeit a rise that is in-line with the income growth in the country, so that affordability is not impacted. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Buy your dream house now!" comment="subhead" text="Buy your dream house now!">Buy your dream house now!</cmsannotation> Lower rate of interest, availability of good homes from Grade A developers, choice of inventory, are among some factors that makes this the right time to buy your dream home. Given the backdrop of inflation concerns, there is an uncertainty about the continuance of the low interest rates, and the increasing home demand might lead to rise in home prices in the MMR region. The pandemic has brought forth the importance of owning one’s own home. As is with any investment, timing is crucial and the time seems ripe to research and put through to action to owning your dream home. Disclaimer: This is a sponsored article in partnership with Lodha Group SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/google-pixel-6-series-price-and-features-leaked/articleshow/87103495.cms">Prices of the Google Pixel 6 series are out, thanks to a leaked advertisement</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/tata-punch-starts-at-5-49-lakh-check-out-the-price-of-each-variant-here/slidelist/87102598.cms">Tata Punch starts at ₹5.49 lakh — Check out the price of each variant here</a>

Consumer demand for bigger homes in Mumbai is rising — is a price hike on the cards?

300 seems to be the magic number these days. And guess, who has achieved this milestone recently—the<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=real+estate"> real-estate market</a> major <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Magicbricks">Magicbricks</a>, <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> and Group M that is. They had recently organized an online sale by the name The Great Online Homes Festival (GOHF), and it had been a huge success. The organizers could manage to fetch over 500 bookings for properties via this sale and their total worth stands at Rs 300 crore. 
 The property fair which lasted for 10 days received more than 50 lakh visitors from across India. What surprised the organizers was the fact that new markets, apart from Delhi-NCR participated actively in the event. As per a report released by the organizing company, <keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword> and Hyderabad are growing as new possibility for the real-estate sector. The response from these markets was at par with cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Sudhir+Pai">Magicbrics CEO Sudhir Pai</a> in a statement said, "The successful conclusion of GOHF marks an important milestone for the <keyword id="597723" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-real-estate-sector">Indian real estate sector</keyword>. We are overwhelmed by the record-breaking response from customers, which signals a paradigm shift in the customer psyche so far as the decision of online property purchase is concerned. Hopefully, the momentum generated by GOHF will impart the much-needed impetus for improved sales in the <keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="real-estate">real estate</keyword> sector in the days ahead." 
 In addition to this, the fair received queries from across India, especially from the cities like Bhopal and Coimbatore in addition to Delhi NCR. <keyword id="806482" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nitin-Bawankule">Nitin Bawankule</keyword>, Industry Director, <keyword id="45395" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-India">Google India</keyword> in a statement said, “Real estate purchase journey today begin on the Internet and over the last two years we have seen great traction amongst buyers willing to make purchases online for their dream homes. Success of Great Online House Festival by Magicbricks reiterates, that Internet can unlock the value by overcoming the inefficiencies in the offline model and offering rich, meaningful and immersive experience to real estate buyers on the Internet in both domestic tier 1, tier 2 cities and NRI audiences." 
 
The online fair showcased properties available in different prices starting from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 2 crore with exclusive deals. While queries were generate across all price ranges, online bookings were primarily seen for those ranging between Rs 40 - 80 lakh. 
 <keyword id="368491" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sachin-Agarwal">Sachin Agarwal</keyword>, Chairman &amp; Managing Director<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=+Maple+Group"> Maple Group</a> said that he was extremely delighted with the response that he received from the GOHF. He said, "In a short span of 10 days we sold 40 flats and some more are in discussion for closure for the most upcoming areas of Wagholi Annexe &amp; Chakan Taelgaon projects. We are very surprised that many buyers are from Delhi and Mumbai too, and glad that GOHF took our properties to a national level". 
 
To maintain its leadership position in the market, Magicbricks has announced a slew of strategic measures in the last few months. Various initiatives such as a high-decibel Media campaign, including associate sponsorship in IPL, launch of new sections on the website such as Advice and Map Search, have all helped Magicbricks take a clear lead in its category. 
 
Image: thinkstock

Guess who has raked in Rs 300 crore from bookings? No, we are not talking about Salman Khan-starrer Bajrangi Bhaijaan

After sacking its most infamous employee, <keyword id="536283" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rahul-Yadav">Rahul Yadav</keyword>, <keyword id="1960231" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Housing-com">Housing.com</keyword> management called up a meeting of all employees in Mumbai to address their concerns. 
 
As per a report published in the Economic Times, all the employees have been ensured by the senior level executives and investors that Housing is still capable of growing into a billion-dollar company. Discarding the reports of Quikr buying the real-estate website, the officials said that many companies were interested in buying Housing.com. 
 The meeting, attended by as much as 700 employees, lasted for about 3 hours. Questions like why Rahul Yadav, despite being a good product manager, was fired emerged during the meet and here is how company’s chief HR officer <keyword id="1637906" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ajay-Nair">Ajay Nair</keyword> answered it: "Decision was not taken with regard to his performance but because of lack of discipline." 
 
Yadav was fired on July 1 for sending scornful emails to investors, his own board members, and a resignation drama, scandalous posts on social media and for instigating a number of controversies. 
 
Housing.com employees, after the Yadav episode asked the management about job security and also about the shares Yadav had issued in favor of them earlier. 
 
The three-year-old online real-estate firm, which competes with CommonFloor, 99Acres and MagicBricks, has attracted more than $120 million (Rs 760 crore) in funding and is valued at over Rs 1,500 crore. 
 
Image: indiatimes

Rahul Yadav’s exit from Housing.com has proven beneficial for other employees in more ways than one

The festival season is yet to start in India but social networking site <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Facebook+">Facebook</a> has already planned how to tap potential customers through its database. It is going to launch a shopping festival named Tied Together on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. 
 
The plan involves setting up a website in association with media agency <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=conglomerate+">conglomerate</a> <keyword id="177241" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="GroupM">GroupM</keyword> between August 12 and August 29, the day of the festival, reported the Economic Times. 
 According to <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword>'s pitch note, brands can "unlock the power of social media that can reach 10 crore potential customers through this event." 
 
The social networking site would use its subscriber base and social networking platform to drive traffic to the shopping site. 
 
Participating companies will have to pay a fee that will be shared by Facebook, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=GroupM+">GroupM</a> and other media agencies. 
 
Facebook, which has 11.2 crore users in India, is reported to be looking for a title sponsor at an asking rate of Rs 3 crore and a principal sponsor at a similar rate besides associate sponsors for Rs 1.5 crore each. 
 
According to a media planner, online shopping festivals have become a popular trend in India, especially with the rise in the number of eCommerce companies, which are driving the growth of online shopping in India. 
 
Facebook should be considered as another media vehicle which has a huge database that can be utilised for commercial purposes. 
 Last year, <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> organized a shopping festival along with with GroupM and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Amazon+">Amazon</a> called the Grand Diwali Mela. In 2013, Google launched the Great Online Shopping Festival. Earlier this year, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Google+">Google</a> held the Great Indian Travel Festival (GITF) in association with media agency conglomerate IPG Mediabrands. 
 
In July, Magicbricks joined hands with GroupM and Google to launch a property festival. 
 "Companies like <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Flipkart+">Flipkart</a> and other eCommerce companies can host an online festival on their own website. But companies like Google and Facebook need to create a new one to host a shopping festival. The idea is to create online intellectual properties (IP) and to make them annual events," said another media planner. 
 
Google and Facebook charge advertisers on a "per click" basis that ranges between 50 paise to Rs 100 and Rs 2 to Rs 20, respectively, "depending on the customer-targeting options that they choose," said the planner. 
 
(Image: Reuters)

Facebook to launch an online shopping festival this Raksha Bandhan

India’s overall <keyword id="148704" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="property-market">property market</keyword> continues to be depressed with builders sitting on piles of losses and buyers waiting in the hope that home loan rates would drop. There are a handful of green patches in the sea of red. Hyderabad is among the emerging markets, thanks to the investments it has been promised, followed by Chennai, Bangalore and the perpetual rush in Mumbai. 
 However, that hasn’t stunted the rapid growth of <keyword id="2941153" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="online-property">online property</keyword> services. More than the numbers, it’s the optimism about changing consumer trends that’s fuelling dreams for these sites. 
 
“Online is currently a small component of the real estate business. We have a long way to go in understanding consumer needs, building confidence and engaging with a larger mass of builders to provide users greater choice, convenience and transparency”, Muralikrishnan B, COO, IndiaProperty.com agrees. 
 
India’s online property market however has boomed with several players like Magicbricks, 99acres, Housing and so on. While investors and entrepreneurs are expecting big returns, won’t the Indian buyer rather play it safe than buy property worth lakhs online, considering that may serve as serious investment or his home? The risk factor is obviously bigger than a smartphone or laptop. 
 
“Property buying has evolved into a hybrid online-offline process. It’s incorrect to assume consumer behaviors would change overnight. However, there would always be room for advisory services that would liberate the power of the internet and mobile to act as valuable research tools and would be free from potential vested interests of brokers”, Muralikrishnan observes. 
 
In its latest report ‘India goes Mobile’, India property claims it saw a 10-40% increase in mobile users searching for property between January 2014 and May this year with a hefty 69% of mobile users and 61% of desktop users between 18-34 of age. 
 
“A majority of these people belong to the upwardly mobile urban professionals who are in their first/second jobs. They have good disposable income and understand the importance of investment and tax saving. While every segment is under-tapped and has a long way to go towards maturity, the bulk still lies in affordable housing”, Muralikrishnan agreees.

Where is
India buying its property?

Well, if you have kept your eyes open while on road you couldn’t have missed ‘Look up’ promotional campaign by Housing.com. The engrossing campaign by the startup founded by 3 alumni from IIT, Mumbai have a record of being in news for all wrong reasons. Believe it or not, the company has spent around Rs 120 crore , much above it’s estimate just to promote its logo, which is apparently inspired from an <keyword id="75489" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IOS">iOs</keyword> app. Adding to it this time is it’s <keyword id="5645" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="CEO">CEO</keyword> <keyword id="536283" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rahul-Yadav">Rahul Yadav</keyword>’s resignation from the board. A nasty email he wrote to his colleagues was accessed by the media and all the hell broke loose. 
 
In his resignation, Rahul has written: 
 
Dear board members and investors, I don't think you guys are intellectually capable enough to have any sensible discussion anymore. This is something which I not just believe but can prove on your faces also! 
 
I had calculated long back (by taking avg life expectancy minus avg sleeping hrs) that I only have ~3L (hours) in my life. ~3L hrs are certainly not much to waste with you guys! 
 
Hence resigning from the position of Directorship, Chairmanship and the CEO position of the company(sic). I'm available for the next 7 days to help in the transition. Won't give more time after that. So please be efficient in this duration. 
 
Cheers, 
Rahul 
 
And as the letter became viral, social media exploded with sarcasm, criticism and of course choicest abuses against Yadav. 
 
A twitteratti, @GabbarSingh known for mean tweets reacted steadily saying, “IIT brat Housing dot com CEO's resignation letter. And you ask why don't we have an Elon musk.” 
 This was followed by a series of reactions with someone replying, “The only 'innovation' I saw was to plaster the city with his ads. No patents. No <keyword id="6414070" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="iron-man">Iron man</keyword> suit. Pshaw!” Someone took this occasion to criticize the app saying, “To be fair, the app was disruptive in its micro-innovations. That it's run by juveniles is another story.” Keeping the fun alive, <keyword id="202428" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gabbar">Gabbar</keyword> himself replied, “his ego is writing cheques which his product cant encash. Build a fuckin suit.” 
 Yet, this isn’t the first time Yadav has proved how foul mouthed badass he is. Earlier when <keyword id="270604" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sequoia">Sequoia</keyword>, a <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> fund declined to <keyword id="47916" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="invest">invest</keyword> on Housing and instead pumped money in Grabhouse, a rival of Housing, Yadav had sent a nasty email to Shailendra, the MD of the venture capital firm, saying: 
 
“You clearly know what shit you’ve done with multiple entrepreneuers and startups in India with your cheap and dirty tactics.” 
 
The letter ends with Rahul signing off “Go die motherf*****” 
 
And when the hurly-burly is done, the news report in the ET reads, the Housing board consisted of three directors " Yadav, Sharma and Arora. On Tuesday, sources told the ET that the first item on the board's agenda will be the appointment of two new directors "Ritesh Banglani of Helion and Sujan of Nexus " and formalising the appointment of Bullock in place of Arora. 
 Documents accessed by ET show that Yadav owns 4.57% stake in the company. <keyword id="440175" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nexus-Ventures">Nexus Ventures</keyword> owns 19%, <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Softbank">SoftBank</keyword> 32%, and <keyword id="344650" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Helion-Ventures">Helion Ventures</keyword> and <keyword id="60126" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Falcon">Falcon</keyword> Edge about 10% each.. 
 
According to the sources, the board will discuss reporting structure, recent marketing expenditure and acquisitions, the resignation of Arora as well the events involving the Times Group and Sequoia. 
 
Housing competes with CommonFloor, 99Acres and MagicBricks, owned by the owner of this portal in India.

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