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Buying a home in India’s Metros: out of reach for the Middle class : ArthaYantra’s Buy & Rent Research

ArthaYantra, India’s first integrated personal financial service company, has commenced one-of-its kind research on Buying a home vs. Renting a home in key metros – Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Pune. The main objective of the research is to quantify the buy vs. rent decision from a personal finance perspective.
In order to create an objective measurement metric, ArthaYantra developed a proprietary composite score “ArthaYantra Buy vs. Rent Score” (ABRS)TM to address the buy vs. rent discourse. ABRSTM not only aids in making the Rent vs Buy decision but also explains the affordability and need to buy or rent in a given city.
ArthaYantra’s research addresses multiple questions such as how much more money does a professional need to shell out for buying a home compared to renting it? Can the professional actually afford this additional amount? ABRSTM answers these questions by considering three important factors: rental value, property price and gross income. system not only tells whether it's better to buy or rent but also tells whether it's affordable to buy or rent. The complete research provides scores for each city, for professionals in different salary brackets (8-25 lakhs).

Key findings of the research:
1.     Historical data of Real Estate prices: Chennai has recorded the highest raise in the index value followed by Pune, Kolkata and Mumbai and Delhi NCR region. The index value of Bangaluru recovered steadily from its dip in 2009. The current index value of Hyderabad recorded a decline, resulting in cheaper residential properties.
2.     Property cost vs Rental Value: Hyderabad, Pune are the most affordable place for a professional to rent as well as buy. Bangaluru ranks 3rd on the affordability to rent where as it ranks 4th on affordability to buy.  Chennai ranks 4th on the affordability to rent where as it ranks 5th on affordability to buy. Delhi and Mumbai are least affordable places for both. The average property price in Kolkata is less than that of Bangaluru and Chennai but the rental values are higher.
3.     Down payment: The average property prices translate to the number of years professional needs to save for the corpus for down payment. Professionals in Hyderabad and Pune will need minimum of 4 years for saving the down payment. Where as in Kolkata and Bangaluru, a professional needs to save for 5 years. In Chennai, one has to save for 6 years. In Mumbai and Delhi NCR one has to save for at least 8 years to be able to afford the down payment.
4.     Area: The average square feet per lakh (INR) determines the amount you need to pay for the desired area. At 26.57 sq ft per lakh, Hyderabad gives highest value for money compared to other 6 metros. Hyderabad is followed by Pune, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai. Delhi NCR and Mumbai offer the least sq ft per lakh.
5.     Rent to Buy ratio: The ratio compares the monthly cost of renting a home to the monthly cost of owning the same place. The ratio underlines the necessity and urgency with which the house needs to be bought. The rent to buy ratio of 0.41 shows that the rental values in Kolkata are higher and makes it an “immediate buy”. The ratio of 0.33 for Hyderabad and Pune gives ownership of house an advantage over renting.
6.     Break Even Horizon: The annual out of pocket costs in case of renting include the monthly rent, maintenance charges and tax. The annual out of pocket costs in case of ownership include the monthly EMI, the maintenance charges and tax. The values have been calculated and compared across the average loan tenure of 15 years. The year at which the annual costs match determines the minimum stay period in the house. The minimum stay period is 12 years for Kolkata, 14 years for Pune and Hyderabad, 15 years for Mumbai and above 15 years for Delhi NCR, Bengaluru and Chennai. The tax benefits received under the HRA allowance dominate the tax benefits received in case of ownership over the period of 15 years.

Hence, the ABRS report concludes:
•  Hyderabad and Pune are the best places to own a house. The property prices and rental values in these two cities are
  low, thus making them the most affordable places for a professional to rent or own a house.
•  The real estate market of Kolkata favors the home owners because of its moderate property prices and high rental value.
•  Though the moderate property prices of Chennai and Bengaluru make a strong case of ownership for professionals with  
   higher salaries, the low rental values make renting a better option.
•  The high property prices and low rental values of Delhi NCR make the decision to rent easier.
•  Mumbai is the least affordable city for a professional because of its high property prices and rental values.
• First time home buyers should consider the potential time of stay as an important factor.