New Delhi: Mortgage lender HDFC on Wednesday said it has approved the highest ever retail home loans of over Rs 2 lakh crore in 2021-22. The demand for these loans was from across the country, HDFC said in a statement.
HDFC managing director Renu Sud Karnad said, In over four and half decades, I have not seen a better time for the housing sector than now due to lower interest rates, stable property prices, government's thrust on affordable housing, improved affordability, favourable demographics, increasing urbanisation and rising aspirations".
The residential real estate segment will continue to see strong traction going forward, as the demand for housing is not just pent up demand but is a structural one, she said. "In the past one year, we have seen a strong pipeline of new launches surpassing pre-pandemic levels. The demand for housing continues to be from first-time homeowners as well as those moving up the property ladder generally into larger homes," she said.
There is a healthy demand across metros and non-metros, and demand is prevalent in affordable as well as high-end markets and the sweet spot for housing is still in the price range of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore, she said. Affordable housing will continue to be the driving force behind the real estate sector in India, she said, adding the demand for affordable homes in India is extremely deep and resilient.
With more developers transitioning to the mid and affordable segment by providing the right-sized, right-priced units that are affordable for end-users, the affordable residential real estate segment will continue to see strong traction, she noted. The increasing sales momentum and new project launches indicate healthy growth for the housing sector. HDFC continues to have the largest number of home loan customers of over 2.7 lakh, who have availed benefits under the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), it said.
As of December 31, 2021, cumulative loans disbursed under CLSS stood at Rs 45,914 crore and the cumulative subsidy amount stood at Rs 6,264 crore, it said. For the nine months ended December 31, 2021, it said, 30 per cent of home loans approved in volume terms and 13 per cent in value terms have been to customers from the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Low Income Groups (LIG).
