67% HNIs plan to buy a luxury home in 2022: India Sotheby’s International survey
3 min read . Updated: 18 Jan 2022, 02:14 PM IST
Premium- 29% HNI/UHNI expressed their desire to acquire a holiday home
New Delhi: A large majority of HNIs are planning to buy property in the next two years, reflecting a strong and decisive turnaround in the luxury real estate segment, revealed a survey by India Sotheby's International Realty - the real estate arm of the Sotheby’s Auction House.
The survey had over 200 UHNI and HNI respondents to gauge the mood of the luxury home buyer in the top eight cities -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and Goa.
Out of the 76% who responded in the affirmative to buying real estate in 2022, 89% said they would look to buy residential real estate vis-a-vis 11% who opted for commercial real estate. This translates to 67% of the respondents wanting to buy luxury homes, going forward.
On the key motivation to buy another property, 46% of the respondents said, the biggest reason for them to buy property in the pandemic years was a lifestyle upgrade. About 31% of HNI’s also said the biggest motivation to buy real estate in the last 18 months was ‘a good investment opportunity’, reflecting the emergence of bullish outlook that HNIs have on luxury real estate and their expectation of home prices to rise, said Sotheby's Luxury Housing Outlook-2022.
Within the choices of buying residential real estate, a city apartment continued to top the charts with 34% saying they would look to buy a bigger city-based apartment. On the other hand, more than 1/4th of the respondents (29%) expressed their desire to acquire a holiday home.
"This remains one of the biggest aspirations for the HNIs, a change we see as significant," said Amit Goyal, CEO of India Sotheby’s International Realty.
“The fact that people picked “a good investment opportunity, as a strong reason for buying luxury real estate points to a bullish outlook on luxury home prices. Unlike some of the developed countries, where the price increase frenzy seems to be cooling off, in India, I believe, we are at the start of a secular price rise. We expect low-rise homes in the thriving urban centers, especially in Delhi NCR and Mumbai, and the vacation home destination of Goa, to be the outperformers of 2022," Goyal said.
Asked about the money HNIs are willing to shell out on another property, the majority responded to luxury city apartment or villa in the price range of ₹10 - 25 crore with 69% respondents picking this bracket.
The sweet spot of pricing for a luxury “holiday home" was between ₹5-10 crore with as many as 71% of respondents opting for this price band. About 29% of the respondents were even willing to spend more than ₹10 crore for the right vacation home.
Work From Home
Since the survey was completed before the onset of the Omicron surge, it showed that the hybrid work model is here to stay. Almost 65% of the respondents said they do not see themselves going back to the physical office, all five days of the week. "This is a clear indication that the desire to upgrade homes will remain a big motivator in 2022," the survey said.
The survey also revealed that 28% of the HNIs had gone back to the office - full time, prior to the third wave of Covid-19. Almost half of the respondents, though, continue to be in a “hybrid" work mode, spending anywhere between 1-4 days working from home. Also, about 15% seem to have made a complete switch to “work from home" – which was negligible in India, pre-pandemic.
Real estate agents/advisors were the top choices for HNIs when it comes to the source of information for decision-making on buying real estate in India. However, information gleaned from the internet is catching up as a strong source of information for HNI’s when it comes to real estate buying decisions.
