Studio apartment preferred choice of homebuyers: Survey

Once seen as a compromise choice in the metro cities, studio apartments have now emerged as the preferred choice of the aspirational Indians, shows the latest survey by real estate research firm Track2Realty.

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According to Track2Realty’s Consumer Confidence Survey, homebuyers across geographical regions of India are ready to spend more with fully loaded living pad, and the preference runs through the age group. This trend is seen across the country, says the survey.

“Contrary to the industry narrative of bigger houses and preferences shifting to periphery locations, Indians are increasingly looking for convenience and lifestyle choice with a compact house,” says the survey.

The pan-India survey was conducted between April 1 and April 30in 2023 to assess the emerging choice of Indian homebuyers. The total sample size for the poll was 5,000 through various tools of offline and online polling. 46% of the participants were women. A structured set of open-ended and close-ended questions were asked to the respondents. Nearly all the respondents were from the salaried class, and a substantial number of them were double income families with better exposure to lifestyle choices. The survey looked into five key areas of choice — apartment size; lifestyle choices, status statement, living conveniences and return on investment (RoI) — to understand the consumer psychograph.

What do Indian homebuyers want?

A total of 58% of people who participated in the survey say that a fully loaded studio apartment makes far better sense than living in a large apartment that is both costly and tedious to maintain. On the other hand, 54% of participants maintain that more than affordability, it is the lifestyle choice that leads them to buy a studio apartment.

“I lived in a bigger house post my retirement. But with the children leaving the nest, me and my wife had a tough time maintaining the large house. So we sold it and bought a luxury studio at half the price, and we are pretty comfortable with the lifestyle and leisure options within the complex,” says D Suresh in Bangalore.

Luxury studio apartments at the heart of the city are preferred by no less than 74% Indians.

Interestingly, 80% of the participants don’t think a compact studio apartment could be termed as affordable or low-cost housing.

Indians investing in property for rental yields are the key demand drivers of studio apartments with a whopping 70% finding this segment is an ideal solution. On the other hand, 74% are convinced that rental yields are way higher with studio apartments than the locality average rental values.

However, 78% of the respondents feel developers may not be paying attention to buyers’ preferences, says the survey, and hence there is a demand and supply mismatch in the property market.

“I recently visited some studio apartments, and, frankly speaking, these were no better than the low-cost housing. Also, the location had been far off from the Hinjewadi area where I have my office. I do understand that studio apartments are an evolving concept, and we are nowhere near the global standards. But the developers are definitely not catering to our wants and needs,” says Manish Sahu in Pune.

“Lack of quality supply in and around major business districts is what has deterred 62% Indians to go for a studio apartment. The preference of no less than 80% of the Indians is for a studio apartment within the complex of offices, malls, hotels or high street,” it says.

According to the survey, 58% of participants believe a luxury studio in the city centre that is in the vicinity or within the complex of the workplace is far greater a luxury than a bigger house in a low-profile locality. Eighty-eight per cent Indians prefer a studio apartment for walk-to-work concept with leisure options.

On the other hand, 64% Indians believe that the social profile of the neighborhood in a studio apartment is way too cosmopolitan than the large-format house in a low-profile locality.

The concept has takers across the buyer segment, with young professionals (74%), newly married ones (66%), retirees (62%), and travelling professionals (60%) opting for a studio apartment.

In terms of the cities, Mumbai commands the maximum demand (82%), followed by Bengaluru (78%), Hyderabad (70%), Pune (66%), Gurgaon (60%) and Ahmedabad (56%). The trend is also fast catching up in Noida (44%) and Kolkata (40%).

Key takeaways

78% believe developers’ studio offerings are off track from the market need.

62% crib lack of quality supply with studio apartments.

80% want studios to be within business centres.

City centre studios are the definition of luxury for 58% Indians.

88% opt for studio apartments for walk-to-work.

64% term studio living to be cosmopolitan.

74% of young professionals, 66% newly married, 62% retirees and 60% travelling professionals vouch for studio apartments.

Mumbai has the highest takers for studio apartments (82%), followed by Bangalore (78%), Hyderabad (70%), Pune (66%), Gurgaon (60%) and Ahmedabad (56%).

Noida (44% takers) and Kolkata (40% takers) are emerging markets for studio apartments.

The writer is CEO, Track2Realty.

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Ravi Sinha

Ravi Sinha is a journalist with nearly two decades of cross-discipline media exposure. He is the CEO of real estate think-tank group Track2Realty. He has been writing extensively on the real estate sector for nearly a decade. Evaluation of real estate brand performance is his expertise and he has immense insight into consumers’ psychograph in the property market.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ravitrack2media