A steady expansion of the city's geographical boundaries and population in urban India are making way for small ticket-size or micro-homes in the Indian realty markets.

The pandemic-enforced realization about homeownership has been accountable to spur this revival. The millennial community in particular, who has always emphasized an upgraded lifestyle rather than prioritising aspects like home investments are gradually turning towards cost-effective homes fitting well into their budget.

Realty developers across property markets are aligning their apartment configurations and supply with the budget ranges being dictated by the demand. These residencies with smaller configurations are making way for more launches by reducing average apartment size, thus bringing down the property valuation.

With existing players scaling up their plans, the segment has also witnessed luxury real estate developers with premium projects venturing into this segment. The trend of launching the right kind of supply at the appropriate price is becoming a game-changer for the real estate industry. With a sustained increase in property prices in the last couple of years, the affordability quotient of home buyers has been challenged. This situation tends to continue in-spite of facilitating government measures like low home loan interest rates, stamp duty, and repo rate cut. With altered configurations, developers can enhance the efficiency by staying focused on the consumer requisites. The demand for compact-sized homes is all set to turn the government’s vision of ‘Housing for All by 2022’ into reality.

Dynamics that have heightened the demand for micro homes:

Location of the property: With the expansion of metropolitan cities, there has been an increase in the establishment of civic and social infrastructure. People favour residing in the heart of the city due to improved accessibility. With the cost of the property being a major factor in such locations, families tend to have a preference to capitalize on micro homes. Smaller unit dimensions also call for effective space management, which is the current real estate preference.

The upswing in nuclear clans: In the contemporary culture, nuclear families with an evolved decision making as far as home buying is concerned, seems to be the order of the day. Due to the small size of the family, the space prerequisite tends to become less as compared to a joint family. In addition to nuclear families, working singles, or retired seniors, are also probable buyers for micro or compact studio homes.

Smart spacing in homes: A larger share of today’s fast-paced generation prefers homes that are easy to maintain and clean. Fortunately, living contentedly is a possibility with smart optimisation of space in a small home and beautifying the interior. Besides getting rid of a couple of things, some smart space optimization ideas can turn out to be beneficial. In a small apartment, you will want to keep most of your belongings, but in a way that it doesn’t look cluttered. An apartment without some free space looks more like a store than a home. Hence beautifying your home by using practical interior decorations help enhance the available space.

Luxury micro-homes on the rise: Luxury micro-housing, tends to provide for an all-out utilisation of available space, design acumen, and comfort. Buyers these days prefer high-quality compact units, with no compromise on the amenities, and hence are keen on opting for developments with all the lifestyle-centric facilities and good connectivity. Even for high-end residential investors, these boutique luxury flats have an appeal, due to their location, fiscal feasibility, and comfort.

It has been researched that more than half of the residential sales over the past couple of years have come from the segment of homes with smaller ticket-size. The intervention of the government through incentives and SOPs benefitting the developers and buyers have proved to be a catalyst facilitating the right supply and demand.

While the inherent demand in this segment is virtually limitless, it needs to be tapped intelligently to facilitate in making way for more mass home launches. The heightened demand in this segment is a clear indication that small size and the right price bode well for the country’s real estate segment.

The author is Director – Marketing, Sheth Creators

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