Home demand inching up, but recovery not in sight

By Jasudha Kirpalani

MUMBAI (Reuters) -- Homes sales in India are trickling back in some sections of the market, but industry watchers say a rebound is months away as buyers in the world's second-most populous country await further price corrections.

Builders have begun new projects after a year-long hiatus, and are also swapping older premium project proposals for cheaper ones to restart sales as they try to beat a severe cash crunch.

"While the market has turned up, I don't expect it to be back to 2007 or 2008-beginning levels for another 6 months or 8 months," said Rajesh Goenka, Chairman, Axiom Estates, real estate agency, servicing overseas Indians mostly in the earning bracket of $100,000-$300,000 a year.

Indian real estate developers have spent months battling a severe cash crunch as high interest rates and an economic slowdown kept buyers away and funding from investors dried up.

But, a spate of interest rate cuts and a sentiment revival has encouraged builders to focus on middle-income buyers by launching new projects or re-market older ones as mid-income properties.

Unitech, Parsvnath Developers as well as India's top listed real estate firm DLF redesigned projects and cut costs to appeal to a wider consumer base.

Demand is swaying towards affordable housing and buyers of luxury properties are staying on the sidelines, holding out for a further drop in prices.

In the quarter to March, half of the homes sold were in 114 new projects of the 2,000 available for sale, according to estimates by realty rating and research agency, Liases Foras.