Siddharth Yog, associate director, C B Richard Ellis, says that each city has its own parameters and dynamics. So a generalisation may not always be accurate. Nevertheless, certain trends are emerging in the real estate sector across the country.

It's a significant development that property is being considered a performing asset, says Yog. The fact that the real estate market is going up and down is an indicator that it's a performing asset, he explains. ``You can compare it with money, dollars, stocks.'' That is, property is not a secure investment any longer like gold. Instead, it is fast turning into an asset that you take risks in, like you do with blue chip stocks, adds Yog. And likein the case of the stock market, in real estate too, one must take informed decisions and invest carefully.

Commenting on the user's market, Yog says, in the past four-five months, there has been a feel good factor at work. He explains: ``Across Mumbai, Delhi and South India, transaction volumes have gone up.'' And the important trend here is that it's the end users who're going in for these transactions. In fact, a recent study found that the last quarter saw more transactions than anything since 1995.

Also, the real estate market is turning from being builder-oriented to user-oriented, says Yog. Naresh Malkani, managing director, indiaproperties.com (one of the first real estate portals of the country), agrees with Yog. Malkani says: ``We are going to actually feel and accept the true paradigm shift in the industry where the market is going to the consumer versus the consumer going to the market.'' This process actually took seed in mid-1997, he adds. This year, it shall be accepted as the new marketorder across the country, Malkani says.

Rajesh Arora, consultant, Arora Associates, too says that the home buyer should expect developers to offer them quality accommodation, clean title property and less percentage of super area. Along with that, the profit margin of developers will be reduced, so that `value for money' products can be offered to the home buyer.

Talking of another facet of the user-driven market, Malkani says that the housing finance business is going to grow as more borrowers understand and accept borrowing as a cost-effective and convenient way of creating an asset. Plus, many renters are going to take a second look at their potential tax saving and consider buying against renting, he adds. Says Malkani: ``We are of the firm opinion that with the present pricing of properties and relatively reasonable housing finance available at very attractive interest rates, people will choose to buy over rent.''

As the market gets more and more consumer-driven and competitive, says Malkani, it isgoing to be very important for builders to build absolute quality homes that cater to a much wider market segment. Yog explains that the real estate scenario is changing with developers being forced to make what users want. That's the reason, says Yog, that good real estate is stabilising now. By good real estate, Yog means a well-constructed property in a good location, which meets the requirements of the end-user.

There are other emerging trends too, in line with the user-friendly concept. Among these are securitisation of the market, innovation, transparency on transaction and data and accountability. Also, professional property management is fast being recognised as a trend. Says Yog: ``To make your property do well, it has to be managed well.'' And sensing the opportunity, all the major accounting firms are jumping into the real estate bandwagon.

From the user's viewpoint, real estate buying is now a logical decision, and not an emotional one, says Yog. Even if you look at the annual yields from thereal estate sector, on an average it comes to 12-14 per cent-the highest in the world. That's the income from just renting your property.

Another interesting development is that government sectors too are realising that land is an asset. And a number of government agencies are making land assets perform to optimal capacity, says Yog. Even in Delhi, there are talks of using some of the prime properties better. In that context, says Yog, it's possible to retain our heritage, while earning better revenues from such property.

Finally, knowledge is being seen as an important component of real estate, says Yog. And Internet technology is a main driver in that. A recent example is that of indiaproperties.com partnering with mantraonline.com. As per the pact, visitors to mantraonline.com can search for the properties listed in over 43 cities in India by clicking on the hyperlink of indiaproperties.com on the home page of mantraonline.com. Earlier on, indiaproperties.com had announced a tie-up with ICICI Bank forhome loan finance.

As Malkani puts it, technology and the Internet are going to play a major role in making the consumer the decision maker. The bottomline being, it's a buyer's market.