NoBroker Survey: Bangalore has Highest Number of Prospective Buyers Looking for 3 and 4 BHK Units

NoBroker.com, the world’s largest ‘peer-to-peer’ real estate portal, has identified the residential property trends that dominated Bangalore real estate market over the past year in its ‘India Real Estate Report 2020’. The report is a conflation of data captured by Nobroker through its users as well as a consumer survey that it conducted across cities. The pandemic has ushered in a new found importance of owning a home and saw a new set of consumers- the millennials- entering the market. This release captures trends and patterns specific to Bangalore. According to the findings, a whopping 85% of respondents are exploring to buy a house in 2021. The city saved INR 289 crore on brokerage – nearly a third of the INR 1,017 crore saved across six top cities in India. With this, India’s Silicon Valley saves the highest amount among the surveyed cities for two consecutive years.

Besides these, the following are the major property purchase trends that dominated Bangalore in 2020 as observed by NoBroker.com in its latest report:

• 85% of the surveyed homeseekers in the city prefer ready-to-move-in or resale houses.
• A majority of the buyers (92%) in the region are looking to purchase a property for end-use. Only 8% of them are interested in owning a property for investment purposes.
• Society accommodation gained traction across most cities following the pandemic, with 61% of homeseekers across India preferring it to other options. In keeping with the national trend, more than half (56%) of prospective buyers are looking for society accommodation.
• Bangalore is among the top cities where buyers are keen on Vastu compliance, with nearly 81% of homeseekers in the region mentioning they consider Vastu important while making a purchase.
• 33% of the respondents in the region are looking to buy a house in 2021 within a budget of INR 80 lakhs or more.
• Bangalore is home to the greatest percentage (54%) of people among the surveyed cities seeking 3 BHK and bigger houses.
• While the impact of the pandemic on the city’s real estate sector reflected in property prices across the major cities in India, Bangalore is an exception. The average prices of 2 BHKs have stayed more or less stable in 2020. It increased by 1.67% in 2019 and 1.16% this year.

The platform also identified top rental trends in the city which are also a representative of the internal data of over 10 million users along with a survey conducted across cities.

• Only 7% of the tenants in Bangalore mentioned that they rely on brokers while searching for property. A majority either prefers to use to-let boards (36%) and real estate portals (33%) or depends on friends/relatives (24%) while searching for property.
• Security emerged as the most important amenity for 72% of tenants in Bangalore. 19% of them mentioned that they look for visitor and society management apps because of the convenience and safety they offer. In sync with this trend, the report found that nearly half (49%) of the tenants in the city prefer society accommodation over independent houses/floors.
• The use of digital payment tools reigned supreme amid the pandemic. 60% of the tenants in Bangalore paid their rent through online channels such as bank transfer and NoBroker Pay. Only 34% of them transacted using cash.
• 68% of the city’s tenants in the city prefer semi-furnished houses over fully furnished or non-furnished options.
• When most cities saw negative rent inflaton during the pandemic, Bangalore bucked the trend to register an appreciation of 1.19%. When compared with last year’s inflation figure that exceeded 7%, the marginal degree of price appreciation reflects the impact of the pandemic on rentals.

The human side of landlords

• NoBroker.com’s report records an interesting observation about the behaviour of Indian landlords in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Of the surveyed landlords in Bangalore, more than half (52%) mentioned that they waived off some rent during the lockdown for the benefit of their tenants.
• The percentage of landlords in Bangalore who prefer families as tenants coincides with the national average at 79%. Only 21% of landlords in the city expressed their willingness to rent to bachelors.

Speaking on the latest findings, Saurabh Garg, Co-Founder & CBO, NoBroker.com, said, “The pandemic has had a tangible impact on India’s real estate sector. More tenants have realised the importance of owning a home and that too a bigger home due to work from home being a new normal. Therefore, we see that 85% respondents are exploring to buy a house in 2021 and majority buyers in Bangalore are looking for 3 and 4 BHKs. Also, the outbreak-led safety concerns are driving buyers as well as tenants towards opting for society accommodation, where new-age apps are enabling users to have a safer and more convenient residential experience. Further, one particular trend has been consistent throughout while some of the trends vary across the cities. It is the declining reliance of homeseekers on brokers.”

By relying on consistent innovation, NoBroker.com has emerged as a domain leader in the Indian proptech space. Underscoring its mission of providing its users with safe and convenient services, the platform offers end to end solutions for real estate such as  packers & movers, home loans, NoBroker Pay, rental agreements, home painting and cleaning services, and NoBrokerHood society management app, among others.