The real estate industry's leading role in the country's economic prosperity is well recognised, and the structural rise in housing predicted over the next few quarters is likely to further solidify this position. All of the conditions for a housing boom are in place: a growing working population, rapid urbanisation, a move to nuclear families, the lowest mortgage rates in history, and a pandemic that has emphasised the importance of owning a home.

Mumbai is India's entertainment, fashion, and financial capital, accounting for 6 percent of the country's GDP. With a population of around 20 million people in the metropolitan agglomeration, housing demand, particularly in the low and mid-income segments, is expected to increase. The real estate business is at a crossroad, with the potential for exponential expansion.

Is there an ideal age to buy a residential property?

At the One World One Realty Digital Summit 2021, Deepak Parekh, chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation, was reported saying, "It is not only pent-up demand that will drive growth, but the country is going through a structural revolution in housing need." This is due to a combination of first-time homeowners and consumers moving up the property ladder to larger homes or purchasing a second home in a different location."

Baby boomers, Age 57-66 are considered natural sellers who benefit from strong market fundamentals. Many people are ready to downsize now that their children have left home; they are ready to retire and have assets that have appreciated significantly. Not to mention that many people are being persuaded to sell their property, which they have a lot of equity in, in order to save for retirement.

Generation Y, or millennials, born between the 1980s and 2000s, are facing unique transformational challenges, one of the examples can be working from home due to the pandemic. It is a long time now after March 2020 and WFH is becoming a permanent practice because of Covid and people need peaceful and spacious homes to manage and maintain a balance between both their professional and personal lives.

Millennials are now taking a responsible step of purchasing a home by investing in real estate rather than living in rental agreements. Home purchase patterns among Indian millennials have evolved as they have disposable income and a need for stability in their lives. The belief of Indians is more closely tied to purchasing a home, since it is seen as a financial stability step towards starting a family.

Factors that are considered by generations before buying a home

• Mortgage and Interest

Millennials are known for their willingness to take risks, and their buying habits are no exception. In respect to home buying, they are buying more properties than their previous generations. With their wallets becoming deeper, millennials aren't hesitating to achieve their dream of owning a home, often multiple homes. Millennials' real estate facts are heavily influenced by rising property costs. Despite the fact that they are offering lower down payments, they are choosing house loans that need a considerable mortgage.

In terms of home ownership, millennials have surpassed generation X born between the early to mid 1960s and the early 1980s; by a large margin. In comparison to previous generations, they are more ready to take on large mortgages. Given these millennial real estate statistics, and the fact that a large percentage of them are first-time house purchasers, banks and financial institutions are giving large mortgages with low interest rates to capture their attention.

Home loan interest rates were over 10 percent 25 years ago. The repo rate has now been slashed by 40 basis points by the RBI, bringing it to an all-time low of 4 percent. Since the lockdown began, the RBI has lowered the repo rate by 115 basis points, which is wonderful news for home loan applicants who wish to buy their dream property. Interest rates are now trending lower, lowering EMIs and making home ownership more accessible. EMIs have dropped to nearly 7.5 percent and may fall even lower.

Purchasing a home entails creating a high level of comfort for millennials who are looking towards living alone or starting a nuclear family. The pandemic has also spurred the interest of millennials for spacious homes in order to enable a better WFH environment.

• Real Estate and Technology

The real estate sector has not been spared in the age of technology taking over the planet. Home purchase habits among millennials are closely linked to the online world. Whatever time millennials spend searching for anything they want to buy, they prefer to do so online at a click of a button. Easy and quick access to information with the help of the internet is what attracts them and as a result, real estate websites are springing up to encourage millennials to have a positive experience when it comes to gathering information about residential real estate properties and the process of buying a home.

The overall procedure of home buying was tedious before because of unscrupulous brokers who tend to cheat as home buyers did not have complete knowledge and access to proper statistics. With the implementation of RERA Law, homebuyers are protected in a significant manner.

The home buying process is now becoming easier day by day with the advent of real estate consultants like Dwello. Dwello offers end to end assistance with proper data analysis and absolute transparent solutions to homebuyers so that they can make the right decision based on their property requirements and buy a suitable home for themselves.

Real estate firms are making their websites responsive to give an extremely positive experience, as they are most inclined to utilising their phones and tablets for real estate enquiries.

• Rental Difficulties

With rental prices rising at such a rapid rate, it has become a difficult chore for millennials to save money. For the past few years, rental rates have risen rapidly around the world. Millennials are more interested in owning a home than wasting their money on rent. The entire calculation process of what risk they can take has been unwrapped by millennials' real estate statistics, as the majority of their income is spent on rent rather than investing in assets.

The landlords' terms and conditions for renting a residence are extensive. When an outsider intrudes on their personal zone, millennials have little patience. Above all, the important point is that it is not always possible to find a suitable rental home based on location, affordable rent, other expenses, necessary and luxury amenities and hence, millennials have to limit their interests.

To get away from all this and choose a better option that would fulfill all the characteristics of a great lifestyle, millennials are looking for a permanent home which would allow them to live in an apartment that is fulfilling in all aspects, be it the area, affordability, amenities, accessibility to other important locations and so on. This is prompting an increase in the number of buyers to purchase a home.

The Harmony between generations

Both baby boomers' and millennials' home-buying beliefs are somewhere connected. Both the generations are seeking for a respectable and pleasant neighbourhood with all the amenities they require for a comfortable stay, such as peaceful walkable parks and smart home automation systems, recreational facilities, location accessibility, nearby restaurants, job hubs, hospitals and so on. Real estate developers are considering requirements of both the generations and making sure that they are able to provide a wide range of amenities for all age groups so that buying a residential home becomes an easy journey.

Conclusion

Real estate has been, is, and will continue to be the most popular investment option. Investors of different generations keeping various criteria in mind like to have higher amounts of their portfolios devoted to safe and relatively non-volatile investment options in times of uncertainty and volatility. Today, WFH is a safe option for every organization, this can go permanent or stay until the time covid persists, people prefer personal space when it comes to working efficiently from the convenience and comfort of their homes. This way they can manage their personal and professional life. Buying habits of generations can change but the need for a peaceful and spacious home with all the necessary amenities will stay put and this is where the need of a good residential property will always remain in the picture.