While housing sales have reached an all-time high, women are emerging as a key homebuyer segment and the majority of them are looking at homes priced above Rs 45 lakh. According to a survey by Anarock, 36 per cent of women home seekers are looking at homes in the budget range of Rs 45-90 lakh, 27 per cent prefer premium homes priced at Rs 90 lakh-1.5 crore, and 20 per cent women are going for luxury homes priced above Rs 1.5 crore. Affordable homes priced below Rs 45 lakh are the least preferred.

“Over the last decade, women have emerged as a major residential real estate buyer segment, especially in the urban centres. Their preferences are also distinctly shaping newer trends – from bigger homes, ready-to-move properties to specific budgets,” said Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman, ANAROCK Group. Today’s women homebuyers are aware of what they want and per the report, 48 per cent prefer ready-to-move homes and 45 per cent of them are looking for homes that will be ready within 12 months. In terms of size, 50 per cent women respondents favour 3BHKs, 33 per cent go for 2BHKs and only 10 per cent prefer 4BHKs.

Even as women are now buying property for investment, the survey maintained that 77 per cent are buying homes for end-use, and the remaining 23 per cent for investment. Previously, the ratio was 82:18.

Why the growing affinity towards property investment?

The growing affinity of women homebuyers towards property investment is courtesy many factors including lower loan rates and stamp duty, special PMAY provisions by the government and also discounted home loan rates by banks. “To avail homes under the government’s flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) introduced in 2015, homes have to be mandatorily registered either in a woman’s name or with a woman as co-owner. This was done to empower women of the lower-income segments,” the report maintained.

Also, if a property is registered in a woman’s name, albeit with variations from state to state, stamp duty charges are lower. This exemption varies from 1-2 per cent across states. Further, banks like SBI, ICICI, and HDFC offer discounted home loan rates to women as compared to men. While this varied from bank to bank, the difference can be of around 0.25 per cent. Anarock surveyed a total of 5,500 people, wherein about 50 per cent respondents were women and among these, more than 80 per cent said that the current time was ideal for buying homes. 

Has gold lost its sheen?

According to the Anarock survey, while real estate is currently the preferred investment asset class, gold has lost its sheen. It said that 65 per cent women prefer to invest in real estate, followed by 20 per cent favouring stock markets and only 8 per cent of women respondents favoured gold for investment and 7 per cent preferred FDs.