The Indian property market is showing signs of maturity, and is looking beyond just the four metropolitan centres - Bombay, New Delhi, Calcutta and Madras - for growth.
This conclusion is at the centre of the findings detailed in a report on real estate and property development, prepared by the Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation of Tamil Nadu (Itcot).
'In fact, the gradual stabilisation in real estate prices has come about by interest evinced by investors in the smaller cities, such as Nashik, Nagpur, Mysore, Mangalore and Jaipur,' the study said.
Property prices all over the country, which are undergoing technical correction after the unparalleled boom of the early 1990s, are expected to perk up once again, but in a more temperate manner.
'The boom between 1991 and 1994 was, to a great extent, artificial, as it had been triggered off by a sudden demand for space by numerous corporates, largely joint-venture companies, in the wake of the liberalisation measures,' according to Liaquat Ali Baig and M Peethambaran, the authors of the Itcot report.
'Fuelling this was the easy availability of housing finance on more competitive terms, and bank loans up to 2.5 million rupees [about HK$537,000].' The report claims that demand continues to outstrip supply, indicating better times for the real estate industry.
Against the demand of about 100,000 houses per year, the supply has been consistently under 30,000 - less than a third of demand.