In India, the real estate industry holds a lot of significance as it’s the second-largest employer of manpower – with the agriculture sector being the first. This sector comprises of four divisions – residential, commercial, hospitality and retail. It is estimated that the sector will grow by around 30% in the next decade. This will be amply supported by the expected growth in the corporate environment with increased demand for office spaces. Rapid growth in the IT/ITes, BFSI, and telecom sectors as well as office space demand from Tier 2 cities is expected to support this estimated growth.

The real estate sector also ranks third amongst the 14 major sectors in India in terms of indirect, direct and induced effects in all sectors of the economy. The construction industry is also expected to see more investment by NRIs in the coming years. While demonetization and the introduction of GST and RERA had the realty industry reeling in confusion in 2016 and 2017, it’s 2018 that is the right time to invest in real estate.

RERA mandates that all projects be registered with them and ensures timely deliveries along with control of misuse of homebuyers funds. These regulatory reforms benefit both the buyers and the sellers in the long term.

The confusion of 2016 and 2017 along with an excess supply of homes, high rates as well as low consumption has resulted in huge unsold inventories across the country. It has also resulted in fewer launches of new projects with RERA guidelines instigating builders into concentrating on completing the projects in the pipelines first. All this has lead to 2018 being a buyers’ market as builders want to get rid of their unsold inventory first.

Clearly, this is the right time to start investing in real estate. Good things don’t last forever and this buyer-friendly market isn’t expected to last more than a few quarters when the supply versus demand will reach equilibrium. However, the current market situation places the buyers at an advantage where they can negotiate and make great deals with buyers.

Another factor supporting homebuyers is that excess liquidity in the banking system has to lead to home loan interest rates being at an all-time low. And they are expected to remain low for the next few quarters, and possibly even go down further in the coming quarters. This allows for savings on monthly EMIs, enabling more people to take the bold step of becoming homeowners.

These current real estate market trends make 2018 an ideal time to invest in home-buying – and make huge gains in the process!