Top 5 reasons why it is a good time to buy homes now
If you are planning to buy a home, this is a very good time to realize your dream. With online real estate portals, home buyers can now access huge information on real estate properties. Here are five reasons why this is perhaps the best time to buy homes.
1. Flood of information online
Today, the major online real estate portals in India help home buyers to narrow down their search according to locality, price, building specifications and the list of amenities. Some portals even allow virtual tours of housing project sites. PropTiger.com, for instance, has a time sense map which calculates the time and distance to the key destinations in the neighborhood like major schools, hospitals, shopping malls. PropTiger.com’s database also generates a catchment report that compares the price of a flat with comparable flats in the same neighborhood according to the amenities, price, project completion time and demand for projects in the neighbourhood.
2. Real estate portals are becoming big Big is good. Online real estate portals are in an expansion mode. PropTiger.com recently acquired OoBI.com, a leading digital interaction company, to help home buyers see housing projects in an innovative way. This week, PropTiger.com joined hands with Makaan.com to provide home buyers the biggest database of real estate information and related online real estate services. There was never such huge information online earlier. Also, Housing.com acquired Indian Real Estate Forum.
3. Interest rates are falling
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut the repo rate by 50 basis points this year. In January 2015, the RBI slashed the repo rate from 8% to 7.75%, and in March, the repo rate was further cut by 25 basis points to 7.5%. This has come as a relief to homebuyers because in April the banks passed on the benefit of lower interest rate to borrowers by lowering the interest rates on home loans. Leading banks have cut the interest rate on home loans by 20-25 basis points. As the RBI has a formal inflation target for the first time in its 80-year history, it is probable that interest rates might fall in the next few years.
4. The proposed real estate regulatory bill will make the market more transparent
The proposed real estate regulatory bill was approved by the Union Cabinet earlier this month. The bill seeks make contracts with builders more enforceable and transparent. There will be greater accountability in the housing market because builders will be compelled to honor their contracts with home buyers. Home buyers will also be allowed to demand compensation if builders default on their promises. Complaints of home buyers will be resolved quickly, and builders will be expected to finish the construction on time.
5. Better offers for home buyers
As there is an oversupply of premium homes at the moment, builders are now offering discounts, gifts and incentives to home buyers. Many newspapers report that to sell premium houses under construction, developers like Olympeo Infrastructure and Omkar Realtors & Developers and Mahagun Group are offering free parking space, gold coins, iPhones and motorbikes to buyers. Some developers like the Gurgaon-based ILD is promising home loans at just 4.99 per cent. Developers are also building many walk-to-work projects in cities like Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Noida and Gurgaon. Home buyers never had it so good.