“There has been consolidation and cleansing, so to speak, in the Indian real estate space. The weaker players have been weeded out of the market,” Parekh said, reiterating the growth potential of India’s housing market. “Recent new launches have been by stronger, reputed developers and this has meant that home buyers too have the confidence to once again opt for under-construction properties, rather than playing safe and preferring only completed projects.”
Demand for homes is also unlikely to be impacted by interest rate increases by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) because current interest rates on home loans are still below pre-pandemic levels. However, the rise in interest rates could impact HDFC’s margins in the short term because of a lag in transmission of rates, Parekh said.
In April, HDFC had announced its plans to merge with citing favourable interest rates and regulatory scenario. Parekh said the company has applied for regulatory approvals and will answer shareholder questions regarding the merger in the extraordinary general meeting (ECM) which will be called after approvals for the merger are received.
The HDFC board has recommended a dividend of ₹30 per equity share for FY22.
Despite tempering of growth expectations, India is still expected to be among the fastest growing major economies with GDP growth estimated at above 7% for the current year.
