Mumbai is top draw for property investors, survey shows

Mumbai, July 2 (IANS) Mumbai remains the top favourite of property buyers with preferences for flats and bungalow, followed by Bangalore and Chennai as the next important destinations, according to a new survey released here Wednesday.

The survey, conducted by Indiaproperty.com, included a 2,583 strong sample of 40 percent respondents in the 25-35 age group and the rest above the age of 46 years.

Nearly one-third of the respondents feel that the time is ripe to make a property investment decision, while 49 percent plan to wait and watch for sometime, with the remaining 16 percent saying the time is not right yet.

However, nearly two-thirds - 62 percent - of all respondents expect property prices to soar in the near future while the rest feel that there will be an escalation in the next one-two years, but a total of 79 percent prefer to go for long-term investments in property.

As far the preferred mode of investment goes, flats/apartments top the list with 40 percent of the respondents, followed by individual bungalows with 24 percent and residential plots favoured by 23 percent of the people.

Commercial properties found favour with just seven percent and country houses and row-houses were chosen by three percent each.

Mumbai, the country's commercial capital remains the hot favourite for all property investments, followed by Bangalore and Chennai.

The other cities next on the rankings include Pune (Maharashtra), Kolkatta, Delhi-NCR and Hyderabad.

More than half - 55 percent - of the respondents expect the NDA government to reduce home loan rates and the rest demand better infrastructure and setting up of a real estate regulator.