Realty Outlook 2022

Harshvardhan Patodia, President, CREDAI National

Post-Corona, the greater realization of owning a home, aided by low interest rates and affordability, turned 2021 into one of the breakthrough years for the real estate industry which bounced back after showing resilience, innovation and performance. The outlook for 2022 is equally exciting and growth-oriented, with demand and sales set to keep the momentum going. Continuous low mortgage rates and work from home will drive the real estate demand in the new year

Ramesh Nair, CEO India & MD, Market Development Asia, Colliers

The year 2021 was a watershed moment for India’s real estate sector. Even when the going was tough, the sector not only remained resilient but also emerged stronger than expected. India’s office sector is coming out of the woods with the demand back to pre-record levels. The year 2022 will even be better even if affected by the new covid -19 variant. We have now learned to live with uncertainty. The gross office absorption in 2022 should be 15-20% higher than 2021 as occupiers’ confidence is back. In terms of global capital chasing Indian real estate, the office segment will continue to remain a dominant segment but residential and industrial-warehousing will get strengthened in 2022, aided by strong business fundamentals.

Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, Housing.com, Makaan.com and PropTiger.com

It was a year of recovery for India’s residential real estate market. Barring the April-June quarter that saw the outbreak of the second wave of Covid, housing sales were strong, driven mainly by pent up demand and multi-year low interest rates on home loans. There was a major shift in demand towards reputed builders with impeccable records of projects execution on time. Strong momentum in the residential market will continue in 2022 with sales numbers likely to reach pre-covid levels and perhaps even surpass 2019 numbers.

Anurag Mathur, CEO, Savills India

While it is little early to predict the implications of the new evolving variant of Covid-19, it is likely that 2022 will be similar to 2021 for the real estate sector. The demand for managed office spaces will continue to remain strong in 2022. Flexible spaces have managed to reinvent their offerings and reposition themselves to suit today’s dynamic world. Focus on the wellness aspect of real estate, technology, flexibility in design and space usage and hybridization of work spaces will likely shape the future of real estate to a large extent. Residential segment will benefit from renewed end-user interest. Similarly, warehousing and data centers are expected to witness a high degree of activity on account of increasing e-commerce, 3PL requirements. It is however critical that initiatives at the policy level continue to bolster the supply and demand side for the next few quarters.

Dr Nitesh Kumar, MD & CEO, Emami Realty

Last year, the sector saw a strong recovery despite the pandemic-induced disruptions. Besides economic surge, low interest rates, affordability and other favorable factors helped expand real estate growth in metros like Bengaluru, Mumbai, & Hyderabad along with Kolkata and other cities. The trend of NRIs’ interest in investing in their native country is also boosting the demand for real estate. Amidst growing vaccination coverage, these factors will help propel sector growth. The increasing levels of FDI in real estate, rise of standalone homes in fully developed integrated township, high street and multi-purpose properties will continue to create buzz, driving real estate in 2022.

Abhijit Das, Advisor to MD, Siddha Group

The outlook for 2022 seems cautiously optimistic. Given the fact that the year has started with uncertainty regarding the extent to which the virus would impact activity levels and the tenure of the disruption. But considering that this so-called third wave limits itself to a month or two in addition to being benign in comparison to previous two waves, one expects to see the economy having similar impetus in the coming quarters as seen in the last quarter of the current fiscal, especially with RBI keeping the cost and supply of money robust. And if real estate grows at 9% in 2022 as predicted, it would reap the benefits of buoyant GDP.  

Karan Virwani, CEO, We Work India

Despite the massive disruption caused by the second wave of Covid-19, hybrid work models helped the commercial real estate (particularly the flexible space) recover the lost ground. The entire market did about 5msf. Over the course of the year, we did 1.7 msf of leasing. Going forward, the flexible office business is coming back and the enterprise demand is going to be massive in 2022, with SMEs and MSMEs contributing significantly. Even we plan to grow our business by 1 msf this year.