This new year, demand for homes will rise.

Over the next 12 months in the new year, demand for residential homes in Bangalore will continue to rise though in a muted man­ner, says a study "Projection for 2010" from Makaan.com. Property prices in the city will not see any major fluctu­ation either on the up or down side, says the study. Demand will be highly elastic. Every attempt of a price increase will be met by a fall in demand. The bulk of the demand will continue to be in the affordable and mid-segment. The demand for super luxury housing, namely homes with a budg­et of over Rs 200 lakh, which is largely driven by the NRI and affluent popu­lation, is likely to continue. Demand for ready-to-move-in houses will grow over new projects. Known devel­opers with a proven track record of project delivery will find favour over less es­tablished ones. More real es­tate companies will get list­ed on the stock exchange, bringing in more accounta­bility and transparency.

GLOOM LIFTING

The year 2009 started with gloom painted all over the real estate sector. All indus­try players had written off the realty sector till 2011. Developers, realtors, lenders and property seekers had felt the negative impact of the slowdown. However, April-May 09 was a better time. The study says that on the national real estate land­scape, Bangalore emerged as the third most popular property hotspot in the country just behind Mum-bai and Delhi/NCR.

On Makaan.com's website, within the city, 35 per cent of the demand came from Bangalore south, 26 per cent from Bangalore east, 20 per cent from Bangalore north, 11 per cent from Bangalore central and 8 per cent from Bangalore west.

Growing sector:

Another highlight of 2009 was the focus on affordable housing (housing under 40 lacs).

“ This focus was not only from property seekers but also from developers. They recognized the fact that the real demand lies in this segment and it makes sense to concentrate on this segment, “ Aditya Verma, VP & Business Head, Makaan.com.

Data from the study showed 76% of the total demand in Bangalore is for affordable housing. The mid segment (Rs 40-75 lakh) demand is around 13 per cent. The demand for high end (Rs 75-100 lakh), luxury (Rs 100-200 lakh) and super luxury (Rs 200 lakh) is 2 per cent, 2 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.

Over the course of 2009, affordable segment and mid-segment demand have shown impressive growth in Bangalore.

The demand for super luxury homes (more than Rs 200 lakh) has also grown handsomely and accounts for 7 per cent of the total demand.