Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

The residential market shows a positive outlook, with 51% of stakeholders predicting higher sales over the next six months. However, a notable 24% expect stability, while 25% predict a potential decrease, reflecting a balanced yet cautious sentiment, as per a recent <keyword id="19895043" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Knight-Frank" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Knight Frank" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Knight Frank">Knight Frank</keyword> report. The outlook for residential launches is also positive, with 61% expecting an increase, suggesting continued demand. A more tempered view is held by 20% of respondents who expect stability, and 19% foresee a decrease in launches. The Indian <keyword id="20152263" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="real-estate-sector" source="keywords">real estate sector</keyword> continues to reflect a positive outlook for the near future, though with a more cautious approach. In terms of pricing, 63% of stakeholders expect a rise, but 36% anticipate stable prices, and a very small minority predict a decline. G Hari Babu, National President, National Real Estate Development Council (<keyword id="20429653" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="naredco" source="keywords">NAREDCO</keyword>), said, "The residential and office markets continue to show notable activity, signaling ongoing growth and opportunity. Developers and other key stakeholders, including banks and financial institutions, are maintaining a positive outlook." He added, "This suggests that while there may be short-term challenges, the sector is well-positioned to adapt and thrive. The continued optimism and activity in the market highlight the sector's ability to sustain its momentum and drive forward, amidst changing conditions." The <keyword id="22822547" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="office-leasing-market" source="keywords">office leasing market</keyword> shows signs of strong recovery, with 63% of respondents predicting an increase in leasing activity, driven by positive business sentiments and <keyword id="21313740" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="economic-revival" source="keywords">economic revival</keyword>. However, 24% expect stability, and 13% foresee a decline. New office supply also remains a point of interest, with 47% expecting an increase, while 29% anticipate stability, and 24% forecast a decrease. Furthermore, 67% of stakeholders expect office rents to rise, signaling confidence in the market's ongoing growth, even as 27% anticipate stable rents and 7% expect a decrease. The <keyword id="20635920" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="future-sentiment-score" source="keywords">Future Sentiment Score</keyword>, which measures stakeholders' outlook over the next six months, saw adjustments across various regions. The North Zone score slightly decreased from 65 in Q1 2024 to 63 in Q2 2024, though it remains firmly optimistic. The South Zone witnessed a more significant drop from 76 to 65, signaling a moderated outlook. In the East Zone, the score fell from 77 to 65, largely influenced by the discontinuation of the 2% stamp duty cut. The West Zone also saw moderation, with the score dipping from 73 to 66, though it too, remains optimistic. The overall Developer Future Sentiment score decreased from 72 to 61, reflecting a more guarded approach. Developers, while cautious, continue to remain optimistic due to strong sales since early 2023. On the other hand, the Non-Developer Future Sentiment core, which includes financial institutions and PE funds, also moderated from 73 to 68. This shift indicates stakeholders' careful consideration of macroeconomic concerns. Optimism in India's broader economic scenario remains strong, with 59% of respondents expecting an improvement, reflecting confidence in the country's economic resilience. However, 24% foresee stability, and 17% predict a decline, underscoring global economic uncertainties. Meanwhile, 51% of respondents anticipate increased funding availability for real estate investments, reflecting continued confidence in the financial sector's support for the real estate market. Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director of Knight Frank India Pvt Ltd, noted, "As we transition through 2024, a host of factors are playing out globally. The global economic landscape shows resilience despite ongoing challenges. Inflation rates are gradually aligning with central bank targets, enabling a more supportive monetary policy. India, benefiting from stable post-election conditions, remains a strong growth beacon." He added, "Domestic consumption is robust, supported by consumer loans, though there are some signs of growth moderation. Food inflationary pressures persist, but are converging overall towards price stability targets. With a projected GDP growth rate of 7.2% for FY 2025, India's outlook remains positive. An effective monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India has helped sustain growth with price stability, positioning India as one of the fastest-growing large economies globally." The Current Sentiment score, which reflects stakeholders' view of the market compared to six months ago, moderated from a decadal high of 72 in Q1 2024 to 65 in Q2 2024. This suggests a more measured outlook as stakeholders navigate evolving global economic conditions. Despite the dip, the score remains indicative of optimism. Looking forward, the Future Sentiment index also adjusted from 73 in Q1 2024 to 65 in Q2 2024, signaling a positive yet more conservative outlook for the near term. While macroeconomic uncertainties may dampen enthusiasm, stakeholders continue to show confidence in the sector's resilience and adaptability.

Despite budget provisions, residential housing market will see sales growth, notes recent report by Knight Frank

<keyword id="24068881" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Equity-investments-in-Indian-real-estate" source="keywords">Equity investments in Indian real estate</keyword> may rise 49% to $11 billion this calendar year amid strong demand for properties, according to CII and CBRE. In the 2023 calendar year, the equity investments in real estate stood at $7.4 billion. Industry body CII and real estate consultant CBRE on Wednesday released a joint report titled 'Leading the Charge: Crafting the Skylines of Tomorrow' at the annual CII Realty 2024 conclave. Equity capital inflows touched $8.9 billion between January and September, registering a 46% year-on-year growth. "Overall equity investments in 2024 in the real estate sector are set to hit a new record surpassing $10 billion for the first time," the report said. With a resurgence in investment inflows in built-up office assets and a strong acquisition pipeline for land in the residential sector, the overall equity investments in 2024 would be in the $10-11 billion range. During January-September, institutional and collective vehicle investors accounted for nearly 40% of the overall investments. Developer companies led the total capital inflows with more than 41% share in this period. Domestic investors (predominantly developers) invested nearly USD 6 billion during the first nine months of the calendar year, dominating the overall capital inflows with an almost 65% share. In comparison, foreign investors contributed about $3.1 billion during the same timeframe. Notably, North American and Singaporean investors were the significant contributors, representing about 85% of all foreign capital inflows. Anshuman Magazine, Chairman &amp; CEO, India, South-East Asia, Middle East &amp; Africa, CBRE, said, "Projection for 2024 equity investments between $10-11 billion, highest-ever, underscores continued investor interest in the growing <keyword id="23870227" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="real-estate-market-in-India" source="keywords">real estate market in India</keyword>." With SEBI's SM-REIT framework, he said, smaller but high-quality assets in Tier-II markets would also present new avenues for strategic capital deployment. "We believe this regulatory support will add much-needed transparency, enabling a more diversified investment base and encouraging institutional participation across these markets," Magazine said. Going ahead, he said this growing diversification will not only solidify India's real estate sector but also pave the way for future growth across emerging asset classes.

Equity investments in Indian real estate may rise 49% to record $11 billion this year, says CII-CBRE report

After a steep nosedive in demand for office space rentals during 2020 and 2021, a new <keyword id="19955574" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Colliers-report" source="keywords">Colliers report</keyword> has now noted that office rentals across six major <keyword id="20026638" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-cities" source="keywords">Indian cities</keyword> have finally rebounded to their <keyword id="20789690" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pre-pandemic-levels" source="keywords">pre-pandemic levels</keyword> and even inched around 2-8% higher. While some cities like <keyword id="19900176" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hyderabad" source="keywords">Hyderabad</keyword> and Pune had already gone beyond their pre-pandemic rental levels as early as 2022, <keyword id="19895037" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengaluru" source="keywords">Bengaluru</keyword> and Chennai had followed suit a year later in 2023. The last to join the bandwagon were <keyword id="19906633" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Delhi-NCR" source="keywords">Delhi NCR</keyword> and Mumbai, which finally managed to breach their pre-pandemic levels in 2024. However, both Delhi and Mumbai recorded the highest jump in average rentals at 8% each, followed by Mumbai and Chennai, which saw hikes of about 5-6% during this period. The recovery in demand for office spaces, which kicked off in 2022, has stayed steady since. Arpit Mehrotra, Managing Director, Office Services, India, Colliers notes that going ahead, the annual increase in average quoted rentals at the end of 2024 is likely to be higher for certain cities like Delhi NCR and Pune, as compared to other markets. "Moreover, as demand scale-up in Indian <keyword id="20107243" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="commercial-real-estate" source="keywords">commercial real estate</keyword> solidifies, notwithstanding unforeseen events, annual space take up to the tune of 60 million sq ft is likely to be the new norm in the medium-term," he added. <h2>Prime location takes the cake</h2>Even within these cities, the growth of rental demand in certain micro-markets, which are located at prime locations, saw greater than the 2-8% average growth. For instance, in Delhi NCR, Gold Course Extension Road, Noida Expressway, and Cyber City saw up to a 25% rise in rentals. In Bengaluru, which saw around 2% <keyword id="22329786" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rental-growth" source="keywords">rental growth</keyword> overall, Whitefield and ORR (Outer Ring Road) commanded a rental premium, with rents here surging by as much as 5-10% between 2019 and 2024. IOMR Zone 1 in Chennai and Bandra-Kurla Complex, Goregaon, and JVLR in Mumbai saw rents surge by around 10-20% from pre-pandemic levels between 2019 and 2024. In contrast, rental rates in Chennai and Mumbai grew at around 5% and 6%, respectively. In Hyderabad, SBD, or the Secondary Business District, which comprises of Gachibowli, Hitec City, and more, saw rentals surge between 5-10% between 2019 and 2024, as opposed to the 5% cumulative rental growth experienced by Hyderabad. In Pune, CBD and Kharadi saw rentals inch up by 5-10%, whereas the whole of Pune only saw their rentals grow by around 5% during the past 6 years. Mumbai and Delhi have also seen a dip in <keyword id="23656583" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vacancy-levels" source="keywords">vacancy levels</keyword> since 2019. While this has dropped to 20% in Delhi at present, Mumbai ranks the lowest in terms of empty office spaces at 10.7%. In both these cities, demand for office spaces has consistently outpaced supply, which explains the low vacancies. In contrast, in Hyderabad, where supply continues to trump demand, current vacancy levels have gone as high as 25%. Going ahead, the Colliers report also estimates that average office rentals can witness up to 10% annual growth across key Indian cities by the end of this year.

Office rents across all major Indian cities surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2024, notes a new report

<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

<keyword id="19895040" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="real-estate" source="keywords">Real estate</keyword> was India's asset of choice for investment in the first half of 2024, noted a recent FICCI-ANAROCK report. About 59% of the 7,615 respondents across 14 Indian cities expressed their desire to invest in real estate. Out of these, 67% of respondents wanted to buy a house to live in it, while the remaining 33% viewed it as an investment. Out of this 33%, the majority (57%) wanted to earn rental yields from the same, while another 20% planned to sell their property after its price has appreciated significantly. The remaining 23% viewed real estate as an asset for securing their future. Even for millennials, buying a house featured at the top of their priorities. 66% of millennials and 41% of generation X respondents highlighted that they intended to utilize their investment gains to buy a house in the future. What was also notable was the significant decline in demand for ready-to-move in units and a corresponding rise in demand for under-construction units. During the first half of 2024, for every 20 individuals who preferred a ready-to-move-in house, 25 respondents chose a new launch or under-construction property. This ratio was at 32:21 in the first half of 2021. Some of the reasons why over 53% of homebuyers are dissatisfied with the current available options when it comes to <keyword id="20254620" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="affordable-housing" source="keywords">affordable housing</keyword> are location accessibility (92%), poor quality construction design (84%), and small unit sizes (68%). Even the supply in the affordable housing category across the top 7 Indian cities has considerably shrunk over the last 3 years, from 26% in 2021 to just 17% as of September 2024. However, this differed based on the city. While over 50% of respondents chose 3BHK apartments in cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi-NCR, and Bengaluru, over 40% preferred a 2BHK in other metros like Kolkata. Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune. However, that does not mean that there is little demand for luxury homes. 28% of respondents preferred buying a house between the range of Rs 90 lakh and Rs 1.5 crore. This was a mere 18% prior to the pandemic. However, the most common budget range for houses remained between Rs 45-90 lakh, with 35% of respondents choosing the same. As far as under-construction properties are concerned, a staggering 98% of respondents prefer timely project completion, 93% choose improved construction quality, and 72% prefer a well-lit, ventilated home. The report further noted that Indians are increasingly inclined towards larger, more luxurious living spaces. 3BHKs and apartments remained the most preferred choice of residence and property type, with 51% and 58% of respondents opting for them, respectively. Residential plots were also seen gaining traction, particularly in southern India, with 30% of respondents in Chennai, 29% in Bengaluru, and 27% in Hyderabad preferring them. <keyword id="21483825" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="home-loan-interest-rates" source="keywords">Home loan interest rates</keyword> also significantly influenced home buying decisions. If the rates are below 8.5%, it would have minimal impact on buying decisions for around 71% of respondents. However, interest rates exceeding 9% would significantly impact 87% of buyers. With the RBI currently deciding to hold off on slashing interest rates in October for the 10th consecutive time, home loan rates are likely to stay elevated in the future. Experts estimate that the RBI will start cutting interest rates early next year.

Real estate continues to dominate India's investment portfolios, shows FICCI report

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Commercial real estate foreclosures spiked last month. </li><li>Foreclosures rose 48% year-over-year in September, according to data from ATTOM.</li></ul>Commercial real estate foreclosures jumped on a monthly and year-over-year basis in September, according to real estate data and analytics firm ATTOM. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.attomdata.com/news/most-recent/september-2024-u-s-commercial-foreclosures/">Commercial foreclosures</a> rose 48% year-over-year in September. There were 695 foreclosures nationally, a report from ATTOM said. That's slightly lower than where commercial foreclosures peaked earlier this year, but marked a 15% increase from the prior month, the report said."Starting in June 2023, foreclosure numbers saw a sharp increase, peaking at 752 in May 2024, before settling at 695 in ATTOM's most recent data for September 2024. This recent surge suggests renewed financial stress or changes in commercial real estate dynamics," the firm said in a note this week.Commercial foreclosures saw the biggest year-over-year increase in California, with foreclosures on commercial buildings soaring 238% from the same time last year. In New York, foreclosures rose 48% year-over-year, while in Florida, foreclosures rose 49% year-over-year.The delinquency rate for commercial mortgages also rose slightly in the third quarter, with the percentage of loans that were 60-90 days late rising to 0.3%, and the percentage of loans that were at least 90 days late rising to 2.7%, according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mba.org/news-and-research/newsroom/news/2024/10/22/commercial-and-multifamily-mortgage-delinquency-rates-increased-in-the-third-quarter-of-2024">Mortgage Bankers Association</a>. Outstanding loan balances that were less than 30 days late, meanwhile, fell slightly but remained elevated at 96.8%.<a target="_blank" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/COMREPUSQ159N">Commercial real estate prices</a> for the US dropped 9% year-per-year in the first quarter, according to International Monetary Fund data.Real estate experts have been warning of more <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/office-market-interest-rates-commercial-real-estate-federal-reserve-pandemic-2024-9">distress</a> to come for commercial real estate, particularly in the office segment. Demand for second-tier <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/commercial-real-estate-big-trouble-crash-bank-crisis-2024-2">office</a> buildings has fallen since the pandemic, leading some to forecast a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/commercial-real-estate-office-outlook-fire-sales-apartment-conversions-housing-2024-10">wave of forced sales and defaults</a> as debt continues to mature in the sector. Some property experts have speculated that the sale of unused office space could <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/commercial-real-estate-office-outlook-fire-sales-apartment-conversions-housing-2024-10">result in a wave of conversions to apartments</a>, solving an issue for office owners and helping to add supply to a constrained housing market. However, such overhauls are<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-nyc-office-buildings-towers-became-housing-2023-9"> difficult and costly</a> for landlords. Meanwhile, other more optimistic forecasts see a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/investing-strategy-real-estate-stocks-bonds-portfolio-jpmorgan-asset-management-2024-10">rebound</a> coming for the commercial real estate market. A Moody's analysis found that transactions in the space had <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/commercial-real-estate-cre-debt-office-vacancy-bank-lending-moody-2024-9">already bottomed</a>, with sales volume rising for the first time in two years in September.

Commercial real estate foreclosures jumped almost 50% in September, report says

Acouple of years into the COVID-19 pandemic, a California state flag appeared on a front porch near my parents' home in suburban Austin. The whole thing felt a little too on the nose, as if one household was trying to sum up all of the city's recent changes — the tidal wave of coastal dwellers, the skyrocketing home values, the maddening traffic — with a single banner.The flag is gone now, and so is the gold rush. Home prices and asking rents in Austin are down significantly from a year ago. Local Zillow listings are littered with price cuts. Real-estate agents who once doubled as bouncers at crowded open houses are now hiring ice-cream trucks to lure prospective buyers into properties.The sudden shift in Austin's real-estate market can be read in two ways. Look at it through one lens, and it's a cautionary tale in which FOMO-filled buyers irrationally bid up home prices, setting the stage for an inevitable bust. Look at it another way, though, and it's a success story of a growing city: Real-estate developers saw all those millennials and out-of-towners clamoring for a piece of Austin and answered the call, building tens of thousands of new homes in just a few years. The construction boom, combined with spiking mortgage rates, kept prices from spiraling further out of control. In other words, Econ 101 happened.This isn't a bust in the traditional sense — pretty much anyone who owned a home in Austin before 2020 is substantially richer today than they were a few years ago. But as other pandemic Zoomtowns continue to see increases in prices and rents, Austin stands alone in its change of fortune. The reversal has meant short-term pain for homebuyers who bought near the peak, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/home-sellers-summer-disappointment-mortgage-rates-house-prices-real-estate-2024-5">disappointed sellers</a> who now expect smaller windfalls, and homebuilders who are eager to offload their inventory. But letting some air out of the bubble will turn out to be a great thing for Austin in the long run. The slowdown, experts told me, is a sign of a healthy market, an example of how cities can dodge a true housing crisis by allowing developers to do what they do best: build, build, build.Housing in Austin has been through so many extreme distortions that nobody really knows what "normal" even means anymore. Long before offices shuttered and remote workers started pining for more space, Austin residents were sounding the alarm on the city's rising costs. New construction practically ground to a halt after the financial crisis in 2008, but as the economy recovered, the city's population exploded. No <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2020-census-fastest-growing-and-shrinking-metro-areas-2021-8">major metropolitan area in the US grew faster</a> between 2010 and 2020 than Austin, where the number of residents surged by 33% over the decade. Real-estate developers ramped up construction to meet the demand, but they couldn't get enough shovels in the ground to keep prices in check. The median cost of a house in the Austin metro area grew by 63% during that time, Zillow found, reaching $323,000 at the cusp of the COVID-19 crisis.Then the real boom began. To well-paid workers unmoored from their desks during the pandemic, Austin <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moved-from-san-francisco-to-texas-for-work-life-balance-2023-8">looked like paradise</a>: lower taxes, cheaper homes, and a thriving business ecosystem. Big-name tech firms like Oracle, Facebook, and Google endorsed the city, as did "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/manosphere-widening-ideological-gap-between-young-men-women-gender-genz-2024-2">manosphere</a>" figureheads such as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-austin-joe-rogan-biggest-boom-town-50-years-2021-2">Elon Musk</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-moved-to-texas-from-california-new-york-reasons-why-2024-8">Joe Rogan</a>, who urged others to follow in their footsteps. Austin was once again the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.austinchamber.com/blog/05-09-2023-migration">fastest-growing large metro</a> from 2020 to 2022, according to the Census Bureau, surging in population by 5.3%, or more than 120,000 people.As people flocked to the city, home prices exploded. I don't need to tell you that Austin got really expensive really fast, but the raw numbers are still stunning: The typical home price rose by nearly 56% in just a couple of years, Zillow found, surpassing $500,000 by the start of 2023. Homebuyers <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moving-to-austin-buy-a-home-texas-tech-jobs-2023-10">got swept up in bidding wars</a>, reasoning that even if the price ended up being steep, it would only climb higher if they waited. Things got so crazy that one large-scale builder started accepting bids for homes on its website, sight unseen. "That never happens," Keith Hughes, an Austin-based executive at the housing-research firm Zonda, told me. "It was that kind of frothy."I'd already moved out of Texas by that point, but I worried from afar that my hometown would meet the same fate as San Francisco, the poster child of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/economic-inequality-housing-shortage-causes-2023-1">housing shortage and all its associated woes</a>. I feared that Austin would become known as a playground for the rich, a city where displacement and mind-boggling home prices marred the natural beauty that once made it such a draw. In my hand-wringing, though, I'd overlooked one crucial detail: Texas is better at building homes than almost anywhere else in the country.Austin-area builders immediately raced to meet the new demand, securing permits for about <a target="_blank" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/AUST448BP1FH">2,600 new single-family homes</a> in April 2021 alone, a 45% jump from the same month in 2019. All told, plans for more than 130,000 new housing units of all kinds were approved from 2020 through 2022. Once the paperwork goes through, it can take anywhere from a few months to a couple of years for homes to hit the market, so for a while, it didn't feel like any relief was on the way. That couldn't have been further from the truth.Consider the following trend: In the spring of 2022, more than 3,000 new listings were hitting the market each month, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.parcllabs.com/">Parcl Labs</a>, a real-estate-analytics company, found. By the following spring, the figure had surpassed 5,000. All told, Austin's housing stock has ballooned by more than 76,000 units since 2020, an 8.34% increase that includes single-family homes, condos, and townhomes. That's to say nothing of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rent-decline-fall-apartment-housing-market-landlords-tenant-lease-construction-2023-3">roughly 40,000 new rental apartments</a> that also opened their doors during that time. Now compare Austin's building blitz with San Francisco, which has added a measly 14,000 homes over the same period and grew its housing stock by less than 1%."It's pretty amazing when you think about it," Jason Lewris, a cofounder of Parcl Labs, told me. Considering the size of the Austin market, moving the stock of homes by nearly 10% is a colossal feat. "These are huge housing markets," Lewris added. "Austin wasn't small in 2019."Thousands of new homes weren't the only things pumping the brakes on Austin's runaway market. Mortgage rates reached record lows during the thick of the pandemic in 2021, making it easy for homebuyers to stretch their budgets by borrowing a lot of money for cheap. Then in spring 2022, the Federal Reserve started hiking interest rates to bring down inflation, and mortgage rates leaped. In October 2023, the rate for a typical home loan hit a 20-year high, making the prospect of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-mistake-buyers-sellers-mortgage-rates-time-to-buy-2024-3">buying</a> — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/denmark-mortgage-rates-lock-in-effect-home-buying-selling-easier-2024-5">or selling, for that matter</a> — a lot less appealing. More expensive loans forced buyers to consider the possibility of paying several hundred dollars more each month for the same home, and many decided to play the waiting game instead. The result is homes are sitting on the market longer. These days, "there's no sense of urgency," Doreen Sidney, a local real-estate agent, told me. "There's no rush. The home that you saw two weeks ago, it'll still be there."The job market cooled as companies pulled back on hiring or laid off workers in the face of higher borrowing rates. Migration to Austin also slowed considerably. Between July 2022 and July 2023, more people moved out of the city's main county than moved in for the first time in two decades. Some departed for the suburbs or cheaper Texas locales like San Antonio — 20% of new San Antonians in 2022 had <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2023/09/14/austin-sanantonio-migration-data-2023.html">moved from Austin</a>. Others, including some tech workers from places such as California, decided Austin wasn't all it was cracked up to be and moved on. "Austin is where ambition goes to die," one disappointed founder and angel investor <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-workers-moved-to-austin-regrets-2023-8">told Business Insider</a> last year.There was no shortage of ambition among Austin's homebuilders, however. Their efforts may have been focused on chasing all the profit that comes with a crush of demand, but they ended up doing what hopeful buyers had been praying for — bringing down home prices. The typical home price in Austin was down almost 4% in July compared with the same month in 2023, according to the Freddie Mac House Price Index, while prices across the US were up more than 4%. On the one hand, a single-digit drop like Austin's "is not a huge number," Sean Kelly-Rand, a Boston lender who works with home developers, told me, adding: "On the other hand, that's massive." Overall, Austin home prices are down more than 14% from the peak in 2022, according to Freddie Mac, and more than 18% according to Zillow.Homeowners and -builders don't like to see price drops — they want to watch their wealth balloon and reap the rewards of a market that's running red hot. But just like a collapse in prices is bad news for everyone, an unsustainable run-up in home values is also unhealthy. Companies don't want to move to a place where workers can't afford to live. Wannabe sellers might choose to stay in homes they've outgrown if they can't find anything else within their budget. Add up <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-doom-loop-fix-american-city-housing-transit-2023-7">all these problems and you get San Francisco</a>. A crash in home prices would've also been bad news for Austin, sure, but that's not what's going on here. The vast majority of homeowners in Austin are still wealthier than they were before all this craziness, and local homebuilders made plenty of hay while the sun was shining. For that reason, Austin's slowdown isn't a doom signal — it's a dazzling success."It's nice to see the positive developments in Austin," Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist at Zillow, told me. "Austin should be a model for the rest of the country in terms of allowing builders to meet demand."Austin's long-standing advantages were on full display during the building boom: Sun Belt cities in the lower half of the US have traditionally been more permissive of growth, which enabled developers to mobilize when they saw the first signs of Austin's unprecedented spike in home values. And most of the new construction was concentrated in the suburbs, where there was plenty of space to build outward. Not all cities have the luxury of ample space, but they do have the power to cut red tape and make it easier to build more types of housing. When developers can get projects approved more quickly, they're more responsive to buyer demand, which prevents prices from getting out of hand. Relaxing the zoning laws, which tell builders what they can and can't build, allows developers to get creative and add multiple housing units to lots that might have traditionally allowed only single-family homes.Nobody watching the Austin market should be having flashbacks to the Great Recession. The market's cooling is less a disturbing sign of cratering demand and more a hopeful hint that the city can adapt to people's desire to call it home."I think Austin is going to be fine in the medium to long run," Jenny Schuetz, a housing-policy expert at the Brookings Institution, told me. "The fundamentals of Austin's economy are great, and it's going to continue to grow with jobs and population over time." In fact, easing the housing crunch will probably add to Austin's allure, which has always been at least partly predicated on being cheaper than the big cities on the coasts. The next challenge will be to avoid forfeiting this success — homebuilding is prone to cycles of booms and busts, and developers are already pulling back on new construction as they try to get their already-built units off their books. Home prices in Austin may be down year over year today, but it's not like there's a glut of empty homes like there was around the country in 2008. If building in Austin dries up, prices may very well resume their rise.Kelly-Rand, the Boston lender, thought about making inroads in Austin a few years ago when the building renaissance was in full swing. But ultimately, he decided not to — buyers' behavior was too frenzied for his taste, and prices seemed likely to come down when all those homes on the horizon actually got built. Nevertheless, Kelly-Rand told me he's still a believer in the Texas capital."Long term, I think Austin will be in an even better position," Kelly-Rand told me. "I think the right thing is happening in that developers are meeting demand."<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/james-rodriguez">James Rodriguez</a> is a senior reporter on Business Insider's Discourse team.

You Searched For "office and residential real estate" and got 7 results

Despite budget provisions, residential housing market will see sales growth, notes recent report by Knight Frank

ANI

Equity investments in Indian real estate may rise 49% to record $11 billion this year, says CII-CBRE report

PTI

Office rents across all major Indian cities surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2024, notes a new report

Ira Alok Puranik

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

ANI

Real estate continues to dominate India's investment portfolios, shows FICCI report

Ira Alok Puranik

Commercial real estate foreclosures jumped almost 50% in September, report says

Jennifer Sor

How Austin's real-estate boom went bust

James Rodriguez

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides