Women are an increasingly important demographic in the home buying market. Over the years, more and more women have become home buyers, either alone or with partners. Several trends highlight the growing influence of women in the real estate market:
- Financial Independence: As women achieve greater financial independence, they have more purchasing power. Many women are earning higher salaries and building wealth, which enables them to make significant financial decisions, including buying homes.
- Single Women Buyers: Single women have been one of the fastest-growing groups of home buyers in recent years. According to reports from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), single women are buying homes at a higher rate than single men. This is partly due to women prioritizing stability, personal investment, and independence.
- Women as Primary Decision-Makers: Even when purchasing a home with a partner, women are often the primary decision-makers. They may have a stronger influence on choosing the home, negotiating the price, and managing the household finances.
- Family-Oriented Purchases: Many women focus on the future and family when buying homes, making decisions that consider the needs of children, schools, and long-term stability.
- Homeownership as Wealth-Building: Homeownership is an essential means for building wealth. Many women see buying a home as an opportunity to secure their financial future and build equity over time.
- Women in Real Estate and Construction: More women are entering real estate, construction, and related industries, influencing trends in home buying and design and offering more resources and expertise to other women buyers.
In short, women play a significant and growing role in the home-buying market, both as individual buyers and as key decision-makers in family purchases. This shift has been supported by increasing financial independence, career achievements, and changing societal norms.
While women have always been the key decision-makers in the home buying process in India, they now increasingly make independent, individual property purchases, according to the latest ANAROCK Consumer Sentiment Survey from H2 2024. A significant majority of them are end-users, though investors are not far behind.
“With growing independence and higher disposable incomes, women are increasingly coming to the housing market as convinced investors,” says Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Group. “Our H2 2024 survey finds the end-use-to-investment ratio for women homebuyers at 69:31 against 79:21 in the H2 2022 edition. Even more remarkable is their firm preference for housing over the other popular investment asset classes Indians gravitate to.”
For at least 70% women survey respondents, real estate is the most preferred investment asset class, against 65% in the H2 2022 edition and 57% in the pre-Covid (H2 2019) survey. Women’s preference for stock market investment has declined to just 2% in H2 2024, from over 20% in H2 2022.
“Considering the significant decline seen in the stock market in recent months in contrast to the bull run in 2022, women have unerringly picked the winning ticket in housing,” says Puri. “The only other asset class that has seen a notable uptick on their wish list is gold, whose popularity among polled women investors has risen from 8% in the H2 2022 survey to slightly over 12% in the H2 2024 edition.”
Source: ANAROCK Survey
The survey also tracks women homebuyers’ budget preferences – in H2 2024 survey. At least 52% women respondents preferred premium or luxury homes priced >INR 90 lakhs. In the H2 2022 survey, about 47% women respondents picked this budget category. 33% aspiring women homebuyers look for properties priced between INR 90 lakh and INR 1.5 Cr, while 11% prefer homes priced between INR 1.5 Cr and INR 2.5 Cr. Interestingly, at least 8% prefer to buy homes priced >INR 2.5 Cr – a strong testament to the growth of India’s women HNI contingent.
UC Vs. RTM – Women Pick Patient Future Profits
Source: ANAROCK Survey
Demand for newly launched properties is on the rise – over 18% of the survey’s women respondents now prefer under-construction homes, against 10% in the H2 2022 survey. Their preference for the instant gratification of ready-to-move-in homes had declined to 29% in the H2 2024 survey, from 48% in H2 2022. This is a clear indicator of a strengthening investment approach among India’s women property buyers. It also highlights that the fact that most new launches are by large and listed developers gives them confidence to back cheaper under-construction properties with an eye on future profits.
