عالمی ریئل اسٹیٹ خبریں

New Delhi | ReNews International Desk News
The Reserve Bank of India has kept its benchmark repo rate unchanged at 5.25 percent, providing greater certainty over borrowing costs and supporting expectations of stable residential property demand during the second half of the year.
The Monetary Policy Committee unanimously decided to maintain the policy rate and retained its neutral monetary policy stance. This marked the fourth consecutive policy review in which the central bank kept the repo rate at 5.25 percent.
Real estate industry experts welcomed the decision, saying a stable interest rate environment would help homebuyers plan their finances and reduce uncertainty surrounding future monthly mortgage repayments. The absence of an immediate rate increase is also expected to support consumer confidence and maintain demand for residential properties.
Market analysts believe the mid income and premium housing segments are likely to benefit most during the second half of the year. Buyers in these categories generally have greater access to formal financing and are better positioned to absorb changes in property prices and construction costs.
The rate pause could also support housing sales during India’s festive season, which is traditionally an important period for residential transactions. Developers are expected to use the stable financing environment to introduce new projects, flexible payment plans and targeted sales incentives.
Stable interest rates also provide developers and investors with greater clarity when planning new projects and assessing long term funding requirements. Industry representatives said policy continuity could strengthen confidence across the real estate market and encourage buyers who had delayed purchasing decisions because of uncertainty over borrowing costs.
However, the affordable housing segment continues to face more serious challenges. For lower and middle income households, stable home loan rates may not be sufficient to improve affordability as land prices, construction materials and labour costs continue to place upward pressure on residential property prices.
Real estate experts have cautioned that developers may pass some of the rising construction costs to buyers. This could increase apartment prices and partly offset the benefits of attractive lending rates, particularly for first time buyers and households seeking entry level homes.
Industry stakeholders believe additional policy support will be required to revive affordable housing. Possible measures include tax incentives, subsidised financing, easier access to development land, faster project approvals and targeted assistance for first time homebuyers.
The decision to maintain the repo rate is expected to preserve momentum in India’s broader residential market. However, the pace of future growth will also depend on inflation, construction costs, employment conditions and the purchasing power of ordinary households.

A sustained recovery in the US housing market will depend heavily on mortgage rates easing, according to a survey of real estate agents who say high borrowing costs are discouraging both buyers and sellers.

The Real REMAX Group’s Agent Optimism Index, which measures agents’ 12-month outlook on a scale of 0 to 100, fell to 45.8 in September from 54.3 in August. The decline reflects growing concern that mortgage rates will remain too high to bring more buyers into the market. In the firm’s monthly survey, conducted from October 1 to 9 and released on October 30, 65% of 177 agents said 30-year mortgage rates would need to fall below 6% to meaningfully stimulate buyer demand. More than one-third, or 37%, said rates would need to drop below 5.5%.

High rates are already affecting housing activity. Two-thirds of respondents said buyers were pausing or delaying their home searches. Sellers are also holding back: 39% of agents reported that prospective sellers had postponed plans to list their homes.
Some sellers are responding to the slowdown by becoming more flexible on price and terms. Thirty-five per cent of agents said they had seen sellers reduce asking prices, while 34% reported sellers offering concessions to attract buyers.

The outlook for prices is also weakening. If mortgage rates remain around 7% next year, nearly 60% of survey respondents expect home prices to fall. About 33% anticipate a decline of more than 5%.
“Higher mortgage rates are putting renewed pressure on an already challenging housing market,” Real REMAX Group Chairman and CEO Tamir Poleg said in a statement accompanying the survey. Poleg said buyers had gained more negotiating power, but affordability remained a major barrier, prompting many to delay their searches. He added that a lasting recovery in housing activity would depend substantially on meaningful mortgage rate relief.

The survey’s findings echo Goldman Sachs’ outlook for the US housing market in 2027. The firm’s economists expect existing-home sales and new-home construction to decline. They forecast 3.9 million existing-home sales next year, alongside a modest 0.8% rise in home prices.

Goldman Sachs economists Ronnie Walker and David Mericle said that many homeowners who refinanced at low rates in 2020 and 2021 now face a significant financial cost if they move while current mortgage rates remain high.