Housing Dreams Of Common Man To Come True

Source: 18 Feb 2008 The Financial Express

‘Budget Homes’ are gaining popularity among builders and middle class has finally begun to dream. India’s urban population is growing at the rate of 2.5% annually. By 2011, close to 41% of India’s total population will be living in the urban areas. This has lead to increasing demand for budget homes. The country is witnessing an average addition of 2.3 billion sq ft of residential area each year, which means that 2 million houses of 1,175 sq ft each will be built every year. Industry experts believe that builders should plan keeping a certain clientele in mind. For such houses, they need to concentrate on volumes rather than ‘limited editions’ and price homes in a manner so that the lower or middle income segments can afford them, depending on target clientele. According to Mr. Anuj Puri, Chairman and Country Head of Hoems LaSalle Meghraj, ‘All major cities have a ‘budget home’ segment. Most of the activity would be in the suburbs, where land rate and satur! ation levels are lower. All countries, regardless of economic performance, have significant demand for affordable housing. The demand is great in emerging economies such as China and India, but the US, the UK, Japan and other countries have it to too.â€