Housing rents have surged 25–30 per cent in top micro-markets within major cities since 2019, while the average monthly rents for residential properties recorded an uptick of 15-20 per cent across major top 8 cities compared to the pre-pandemic era of 2019, according to Housing.com.

Not only median rents, but there is a surge in demand for renting a home post pandemic as indicated by the company’s IRIS index. The index which gauges upcoming demand by tracking the online search activity on the platform, indicates that post pandemic the online rental search activity has surged ahead of buying activity. Currently, the IRIS index for rent is trending 23 points higher than the buying index. 

Despite this uptick, there’s a notable gap when compared to global real estate hubs. The report highlights a modest enhancement in rental yields, driven by a higher growth in monthly average rent than the appreciation in capital values.

“Post-pandemic, there has been a sharp revival in housing demand, both for buying and renting purposes. Housing market has seen price appreciation in the last two years after almost a decade of stagnation. The average price rise has been modest at a city level, but there have been sharp rise in some major locations of top cities,” said Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, Housing.com, PropTiger.com & Makaan.com.  

Looking ahead, with a new supply expected in the market in the next 2–3 years, the company anticipates the momentum in rental demand to persist, creating opportunities for mid and long-term investors.

Housing.com Research also compares rental returns in India’s key housing market with global cities using the price-to-rent ratio, indicating promising opportunities in the rental market with a lower ratio translating to higher rental yield for property owners.

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