There needs to be more focus on housing for the middle class segment, said Deepak Parekh, Chairman HDFC Asset Management Co and former chairman of HDFC Bank at the FE Modern BFSI Summit on Friday.
Mid-income housing drying up
“Housing markets are now getting skewed towards premium and high-end luxury sectors. It is often reported that there is no demand for middle income and affordable housing. This is absolutely incorrect,” Parekh said. He said that the supply to these segments have dried up.
Loosely defined India’s middle class cohort will represent 750 million people by 2030 which will be a huge opportunity, Parekh said.
NBFC support
With the geopolitical issues at play, Parekh hopes that the second half of the current financial year is less eventful and more productive. He expects an improvement in the urban demand, though rural consumption in the second half may continue to grow at a slower pace. Parekh also expects the banking support to non-bank financial companies to improve as regulatory concerns are not being alleviated.
He added that the core of building a future ready financial institution comes from the understanding that financial systems are built on trust and that there is no substitute for prudence. Parekh said that the rest is about understanding customer needs, first mover advantage and building resilience and scale.