Exponential growth in Odisha's property market

Odisha, a beautiful, quiet and sublime state situated in the eastern part of India, shares its borders with West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh on the land front and has the Bay of Bengal washing its shores on the eastern side. Some years back the state was known basically for few things - The Jagannath Temple in Puri, The City of Temples - Bhubaneswar and the tribal people of the state. As a matter of fact it was known as a tribal state all over. Well not any more. The state has become as vibrant as any other developed state of the country. Catching up with the growth of the country it is going through a transactional phase.

In the last few years, the state has seen a tremendous change in its lifestyle. This has had a mind blowing effect on the property market of the state. The state which resided mainly in its villages has opened up to few cities. Many factors have led to the boom in the state. We shall discuss a few of those:-

1.     Liberalization: With the advent of liberalization in the early 90's, the economy opened up, giving an opportunity for the citizens of the country and the state to get a glimpse of the outside world. This in resulted in industrialization i.e. opening up of new companies and factories in a particular area, leading to economic growth of the area of the people.

With economic prosperity, came the idea of owning your own house. This in turn resulted in the high demands for plots and apartments, leading to the growth in the real estate sector.

2.     Increase in number of job opportunities: With the ever increasing job market, more people started getting well paid jobs and having more money than they require for their comforts. This in turn increased their capacity to invest in real estate market.

Also the concept of both husband and wife working, made the burden of buying property easier.

3.     As an investment idea: A decade or two back, the purchase of property was never seen as an investment in Odisha. Few people had more than 2-3 properties in the state. It came as an investment idea when the prices of the properties started to increase in the cities. Buying property cheaper and then selling it at higher prices or in time of need became prevelant.

     As a result of this growing practice, more and more people became aware of the fact that property can also be an investment, which would give higher returns in future.

4.     Breaking up of Joint Families: Earlier, a family consisted basically of all the brothers and their wives and children staying together under one roof. Increasing family sizes often led to decreasing personal spaces. Many newly married couples decided to stay away from their parents. Also as people started working outside their villages or cities, the concept of Nuclear Families began to increase in India. The gradual increase in nuclear families led to the increase in demand for new houses. This again is a catalyst in the growth of the real estate market.

5.     Higher Rents: With the ever increasing rent in cities, people thought it  would be a wise option to go for your own house. The amount which is paid  as rent can be paid as EMI's to banks from which housing loan is taken. You  only have to arrange for the initial down payment. After a period of 15-20  years, a person almost pays the same money as he would have paid for rent  but now has a house to his name.

6.     Education and educational institution: Not only did education bring more jobs, the number of educational institutions in the state brought in students and teachers from outside the state as well. This led to increase in demand for houses around the institutes, leading to increase in property prices and as an booster to the real estate market around the institutions.

7.     Lessening gaps between villages and cities: With the advent of many socio economic factors the gap between villages and cities were disappearing  very fast. Rich villagers also saw an opportunity to invest and move into cities. Also the villages in the outskirts of the cities were merging into the cities at a very fast rate. An agricultural piece of property started to be sold as residential property. This brought in more money in the hands of villagers and buying more property became an economically viable solution for some of them.

8.     Bank Loans (other sources of easy money): Banks have opened up their hands in providing Home loans at very attractive rate of interests. An own house, which was a dream of a common man once, started taking the shape of reality. Lower interest rates resulted in higher investments in the real estate sector causing an increase in demand for plots and apartments.

9.  Indian Spirit: The Indian spirit of competition with relatives, friends, colleagues, neighbors and a host of other people to show dominance in society has also led to increase in purchase of plots and apartments. Also, father giving property to their daughters for marriage increases the buying of property.

   All the above factors and some other factors as well has increased the demand for property in the state. This is expected to continue