Makaan.com: Buy Vs Rent argument continues in Pune

A property seeker in Pune is confused between opting for a rented accommodation or giving that rental amount as EMI for buying a house. In the absence of a robust and reliable tool, these decisions were traditionally taken with gut feel or with the guidance of a close relative / friend, leaving scope for error. The latest report from Makaan.com recommends that homebuyers in Pune should take a property buying decision based on their financial situation.

The Makaan.com Buy Vs Rent Index (MBRI) for the period January to March 2011 has been released for seven cities and 32 sub-cites with some interesting findings. MBRI for cities like Ahmedabad (19), Bangalore (18) and Chennai (18) showed an overall preference for buying over renting; where as MBRI for Delhi NCR (28) and Mumbai (26) showed an overall preference for renting over buying.

MBRI for Pune (24) and Hyderabad (24), however, came in the neutral territory. According to the Index, cities that have an MBRI of 21-25 fall under the neutral range, which denotes that it is relatively more expensive to buy a home than to stay on rental and property seekers wanting to invest here should take the final decision based on their financial situation. If your financial position allows you to invest in a house, buying may be a good option. At the same time, if you are unable to afford a home and are staying on rent, you are not loosing much either. MBRI movement for Pune in the coming quarters will hopefully give a more definitive direction to the seekers.

Shift in trends for Pune city over past quarter

If one compares the current MBRI with the previous report (released for the period October – December 2010), the MBRI for the Pune has remained unchanged at 24. This denotes that, over the past quarter, capital price appreciation in the city have taken place in the same proportion as the rental price appreciation.

The MBRI for 7 Indian cities and their sub-cities for January – March 2011 is given in the table below

Makaan Buy vs. Rent index is a quarterly initiative and will be updated every 3 months. The detailed findings can also be accessed at http://www.Makaan.com/MBRI.