International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis

Determining customers’ preferences for housing attributes in India

Vijay Kumar Gupta Gunjan Malhotra
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Vijay Kumar Gupta Gunjan Malhotra , (2016),"Determining customers’ preferences for housing
attributes in India", International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, Vol. 9 Iss 4 pp. 502 - 519
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IJHMA
9,4
502
Received 17 August 2015
Revised 8 December 2015
Accepted 13 January 2016
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International Journal of Housing
Markets and Analysis
Vol. 9 No. 4, 2016
pp. 502-519
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1753-8270
DOI 10.1108/IJHMA-08-2015-0045
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1753-8270.htm
Determining customers’
preferences for housing
attributes in India
Vijay Kumar Gupta and Gunjan Malhotra
Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, India
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand customers’ preferences for housing attributes in
India.
Design/methodology/approach – The study highlights the attributes important to the customer
when purchasing residential property. The Kano model has been used to understand these preferences
of consumers. The data are collected across Delhi and the National Capital Region and have been
analyzed using the cross-tabulation approach.
Findings – Demographics of the consumers play an important role in deciding purchase of residential
real estate. Because of their income level, Indian consumers prefer low-rise residential complexes.
Originality/value – The study helps to understand the diverse behavior of Indian consumers when
they invest in the real estate sector, especially residential.
Keywords India, Kano model, Real estate, Residential, Customers’ perspective, Housing attributes
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Real estate is one of the most important sectors in the Indian economy. This sector has
created employment opportunities by stimulating demand for other industrial goods
such as cement, paint, steel, consumer durables like interiors and furniture and the like.
After agriculture, the real estate sector contributes around 6.3 per cent to India’s gross
domestic product and has grown at a rate of 20 per cent per annum in 2014 (Ilahi, 2014).
This transition in the economy has paved way for entrepreneurs to expand their
operations in this sector. With rapid growth in economy, the middle class in India has
expanded. The increase in the income levels of this segment of the Indian population has
given rise to new demand for housing for their family members (Sosnow and
Narayanan, 2008; Follain and Jimenez, 1985; Rosen, 1974). Real estate market has also
grown due to the migration of families to different cities in India. This has happened due
to increasing employment opportunities and other sources of income. Increase in income
leads to purchase of residential properties, which in turn derives the housing demand
(Kim, 1999). Studies in the recent past have shown that there is marginal
willingness-to-pay for the different types of housing attributes (Palmquist, 1992;
The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of a group of PGDM students, 2013-2015,
for initial data collection and basic inputs about the real estate sector in India under the guidance
of Dr Vijay Kumar Gupta, Professor, IMT Ghaziabad. Authors would like to thank the anonymous
reviewers who have provided their valuable suggestions and comments. Without their insightful
comments, the authors would not have been able to present this paper in its existing form.
 Chattopadhyay, 1998; and Wilhelmsson, 2000). These attributes mainly include Preferences
evaluating different residential plans, or housing subsidy schemes, or cost– benefit for housing
analysis of new roads, or a risk that the cost might be over- or under-valued
(Wilhelmsson, 2002). Thus, it becomes important to understand the attributes that
attributes
increase customers’ willingness-to-buy additional housing and thereby invest in these
housing projects. These factors added to the overall growth of the real estate sector in
India. 503
Initially, the real estate sector grew in big cities in India. The key real estate segments
include residential, commercial, retail and hospitality. Gradually this sector expanded to
smaller cities and towns due to increasing aspiration levels of the younger population,
easy availability of bank loans, improved earnings and higher standard of living of the
people. The revenue from this sector will increase to US$180bn by 2020. It is believed
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that the customers who want to buy a residential apartment or a house may have some
quality requirements and would consider how well the services are provided by the real
estate sector based on their perception.
The real estate sector helps to provide service to its customers in terms of facilitating
their search for a house or an apartment. Residential real estate segment in India is
currently the largest with 82 per cent share and is projected to grow at 12 per cent per
annum in the long run. This growth may be attributed to increased purchasing power of
the consumers, existence of customer-friendly banks and housing finance corporations,
professionalism in real estate and favorable governmental reforms that attract global
investors (Agrawal, 2012). The major growth drivers for the residential sector include
demographics, urbanization and migration, growth drivers for the commercial sector,
sharp growth in organized retailing, information technology (IT), office space demand
and proliferation of special economic zones (SEZs). The major players in the Indian real
estate sector include Delhi Land and Finance Co. Limited (DLF), Purvankara, Raheja,
Unitech, Ambuja, Omaxe Ltd, Ansal API, Parsvnath Developers Ltd, Godrej, DB Realty,
Sobha, Brigade Group, Merlin Group and Hiland Group.
The real estate industry in India has been going through various business cycles,
namely, recession, recovery, expansion and contraction. There has been an impact of US
subprime crisis on commercial real estate in India. This has resulted in an overall
slowdown in the real estate sector. With this event, the concerns of the customers have
changed, who have become more risk-averse. Residential real estate, however, has not
been impacted much and is in its consolidation phase with gradual rises in demand and
the prices.
In this paper, we focus on consumers’ demand for households and how they make
relevant preferences based on various housing attributes in the Indian residential
property market. We aim to address the requirements of the customers and their
willingness to pay for residential real estate. Second, we have considered the number of
rooms per apartment as the key characteristic of costs of purchasing a residential flat in
a housing complex or a building (Glaeser and Luttmer, 2003). The paper also tries to
identify the demography and preferences of customers for various attributes for
selecting residential flats in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) in India.

Literature review and conceptual framework

Many research papers have been reviewed to understand the scenario of the real estate
sector and housing preferences by customers in India. We have tried to identify the
 IJHMA theoretical or conceptual framework to understand demand pattern and choices that
9,4 customers make while purchasing residential apartments.

Customers’ perception for residential flats

Customers’ perceptions are formed based on their experience of the services received from an
organization (Manivannan and Somasundaram, 2014). The presence of credit and lower
504 price guarantee might lead to increase in the purchase intention of customers in emerging
markets (Saini and Sahay, 2014). Furthermore, certain services provided by different firms
may have an impact on customers’ perception of service quality. It is believed that
customers’ perception and expectation are strongly related concepts as to how customers
recognize service quality, and customers’ expectations may change through the influence of
other people (Parasuraman et al., 1985;Mersha and Adlakha, 1992; Avkiran, 1994).
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The service quality and customers’ expectations are never constant, rather they keep on
changing with time. This change in the needs of the customers may be in consensus with the
Kano (1984) model. The model focuses on the customers’ satisfaction and requirements with
respect to the product or service which is fully functional. The model classifies the
customers’ preferences into five categories:
(1) must-be quality (expected quality) – requirements that can dis-satisfy but cannot
increase satisfaction;
(2) one-dimensional quality (desired quality) – the more of these requirements are met,
the more a customer is satisfied;
(3) attractive quality (delighter/excited quality) – absence of these requirements does
not cause dissatisfaction, but when present, these requirements delight the clients;
(4) indifferent quality – customer is indifferent to whether the feature is present or not;
and
(5) reverse quality – feature actually causes dissatisfaction.

In this paper, the intent is to determine customers’ preferences when they plan to buy
residential apartments from the different real estate players in the Indian market. The Kano
model will help us to understand the satisfaction level of the customers in lieu of the housing
attributes provided by different real estate players and their motivation to buy a residential
complex irrespective of the offers provided by these players.
Moreover, Porter’s theory (first developed in 1979 and later revised in 2008) of five forces
that identifies and analyzes competitive forces that shape every industry is used. This helps
to determine an industry’s strengths and weaknesses. Porter’s five forces include:
(1) intense rivalry among existing players;
(2) bargaining power of buyers – strong owing to multiple players and intense
competition and delay in buying might pose cash flow problems;
(3) bargaining power of suppliers – strong owing to banks supplying loans
charging greater interest for conservative behavior;
(4) threat of substitutes – low owing to the nature of the product; and
(5) threat of new entrants – weak owing to recession posing price constraints plus
rivalry among existing firms.

These forces will help us to understand the real estate industry’s progress in India.
 Housing choice process involves great variety in methodological approaches to the Preferences
measurement of housing preferences (Timmermans et al., 1994). Housing preferences are for housing
influenced by both macro-level factors such as housing markets, housing system and
economic conditions (Coolen and Hoekstra, 2001) and micro-level factors such as age,
attributes
household composition, income and current housing situation (Clark and Dieleman, 1996).
Carter et al. (2013) re-examine the price effects of age restrictions on housing prices.
They believed that senior customers are likely to avoid investing in residential flats or 505
housing because they are sensitive toward their loss of immediate liquidity and are not
willing to pay for the reduction in neighborhood uncertainty. Housing demand increases
with age and declines to a small extent after retirement. Housing demand also increases
with high education, good health and high income levels. This is more predominant in
the countries that experience population shrinkages significantly (Eichholtz and
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Lindenthal, 2014). However, Cheng et al. (2011) believed that women, on average, pay
more for mortgages than men. They suggest that gender disparity in mortgage rates
may be addressed by policies aimed at improving women’s financial literacy and search
skills, as these bring rewards in the marketplace. The price elasticity of mortgage
housing demand is ⫺0.3 in Mexico, which is within the range for developing countries.
Permanent income is a major component of housing demand, with an elasticity of 0.8,
and temporary income has a very low elasticity of 0.04. Economic growth, rapid
urbanization and compelling demographics across the globe attract real estate
investment. International real estate allocations reduce due to lack of transparency in
the legal framework, the administrative burdens of the real estate business,
socio-cultural challenges and political instabilities (Lieser and Groh, 2014).

Residential complex community

It has been argued by researchers that demand for land is derived from the demand for
properties (Muth, 1969, 1971). Asians face challenges in mortgage markets in ways that
may be unique as compared to other minority groups (Courchane et al., 2015). Property
prices determine land prices, and their effect has been weaker since 2004. In China, the
market for residential land became less efficient after municipal governments gained
direct control of the land supply (Peng and Thibodeau, 2012). Real estate sales, in
general, sell at a price discount of 3.6 per cent, and this helps to sell 3.4 per cent of the
property quickly (Benefield et al., 2012). There has been a sharp rise and then drop in
home prices during 1998-2008 due to strong evidence of a “housing bubble”. Economic
fundamentals and subprime credit activity provide some explanation for the “bubble”
effect which resulted in the house price dynamics by effecting investor loans, thus
changing the institutional and regulatory environment, primarily after 2003 (Coleman
et al., 2008).
New housing constructions lead toward positive externalities. Large new houses
with average size command a premium price. The attributes that consumers adopt lead
to higher prices, which enhances competition for creating houses. There is a small
positive impact on small houses selling for low prices (Zahirovich-Herbert and Gibler,
2014). Moreover, there exists the opportunity for customers to purchase the property
during the development of new residential flats with minimum prices in subdivisions
and schemes. This involves a risk of negative externalities, like maintaining consistency
in real estate project execution according to the development standards promised in the
beginning (Hollans et al., 2013). Such deviation may lead to the loss of trust of the likely
 IJHMA customers later. This sector includes property dealers and agents who pressurize
9,4 customers to buy the flats due to certain deadlines that they aspire to meet. This may
affect the incentives of the agents, but at the same time, the risk of negative externalities
may rise (Rosenthal, 2011). There were around 20 per cent discounts on the foreclosure
transactions and 13 per cent discounts for short-sale transactions in California during
2006-2010, a period involving significant housing price volatility. Foreclosure status
506 decreases time on the market, and short sale status increases time on the market (Aroul
and Hansz, 2014).

Real estate in India

India’s real estate industry has experienced a slowdown in the recent past. Indian
Government rules have been relaxed for allowing foreign direct investments (FDI),
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which have created optimism and increased investors’ confidence in the real estate
sector. There is confidence that the new government in India would improve the
economic environment and healthy foreign investments would be created in this sector.
During 2005-2014, the investors responded positively and India witnessed a sizeable
investment of US$10bn. This helped in funding a variety of assets across several cities
of varied sizes (Shah et al., 2015). The investment behavior in India depends on the
financial literacy (knowledge about interest rates, inflation and risk) and financial
planning (liability choice, risk tolerance and insurance usage). There are variations
across demographic and socioeconomic groups that relate to financial tendencies in
terms of investment planning for its citizens (Agrawal et al., 2015).
The research conducted by UKEssays.com (2014) focuses on determining the factors
that influence customers’ preferences while buying real estate property in India. The
essential customer preference factors were studied to understand what motivates
customers to make purchase decisions to buy residential property. The various
parameters included were affluence (house price, gym, traffic, parking space, exterior
looks, floor preferences, living expenses); financial (ease of loans, household income);
location (proximity, perceived safety); and lifestyle and site-specific (water supply,
power backup). The findings of the study reveal that affluence accounted for the 27
per cent choice preference of housing in metropolitan India. The customers from
different segments differ toward the financial factors and pay less importance to builder
reputation and neighborhoods.
Recent trends in real estate marketing helped in formulating recommendations for a
marketing strategy (Venkatesh, 2008). The main problem in this sector is the retrieval of
information from enormous number of unstructured documents and resources, which
creates difficulty of locating and tracking appropriate sources. The issues include
enormity and unstructured nature of data in the real estate sector and the utility of data
mining techniques to extract customer preferences from such a data set (Gupta and
Dubey, 2012).
The demand for public services and their preference across types of household are
different and functional restrictions arise. The assessment of risk-adjusted performance
of major metropolitan cities of India had an impact on portfolio diversification and
deregulation of the real estate market in India (Newell and Kamineni, 2007). In Pune,
India, the value of publicly provided services accruing to the poor is greater than that to
the comparatively richer households, and untargeted investments in specific services
may be progressive (Lall and Lundberg, 2008).
 Moreover, with the increase in the demand of environment-friendly products and Preferences
services, the demand for green buildings in the real state sector has also emerged. for housing
Customers are willing to pay the increased price due to use of higher level of resources
during construction of the building. Green building concepts create challenges for the
attributes
developers and buyers, as customers are not aware about their true benefits and thus
lack of knowledge and awareness reduces their demand in the market (Patel and
Chugan, 2013). Määttänen et al. (2014) studied the green attributes that tenants value in 507
their office building. The Kano (1984) model of attractive quality was used to
understand the tenants’ views on the matter. The study shows that tenants value green
attributes in their office buildings. Strategic guidelines for small tenants will increase
the satisfaction among the consumers in terms of facility management and services.
The real estate growth is phenomenal in the southern parts of India due to the
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gradual increase in the service industry, while maintaining the focus on the
manufacturing industries such as automotive, textiles, pharmaceuticals, defense and
aerospace. In all, 50 per cent of the total number of SEZs are located in the four states,
namely, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, and IT remains the
dominant driver of the real estate market (Earnest and Young Report, 2014).
Although the real estate sector in India is assumed to have emerged after the
liberalization of the economy, in reality, the increase in the business opportunities has
increased the migration of labor to metro cities, which has increased the demand
for commercial and residential space (Vijayakumar and Babu, 2013). Latest
macro-economic trends include 100 per cent FDI permitted through the automatic route
in the real estate sector. Revenue generated by this sector for the year 2011 is $66.8bn.
In this paper, we have tried to identify the customers’ relative preferences for various
attributes of the residential complex in Delhi and NCR. Therefore, in this paper, we
intend to proceed as per Kano’s (1984) model and Porter’s theory (1979). The physical
reality of the product, real estate, may not be appreciated until it is purchased. However,
such intangibles, when supported by models, blueprints and construction-site visits,
may boost the trust of the potential clients in their purchase evaluation. This helps to
reduce the influence of word-of-mouth communications and complexity in the purchase
of the property (Berry and Parasuraman, 1997). The paper focuses on the factors that
motivate the customers to buy residential property in India.

Research methodology
Customers for purchasing residential flats or complexes have increased in Delhi and
NCR because of migration for job purposes or for better living standards. To determine
customers’ preferences regarding product mix of residential real estate, we prepared a
questionnaire stating various housing attributes. The structured questionnaire was
based on the Kano (1984) model of customers’ satisfaction and requirements and
Porter’s (2008) model of competitive strategy with respect to the product or services. The
questionnaire was distributed online (Qualtrics software) and offline to the residents of
Delhi NCR. The NCR comprises four cities Delhi, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Noida. The
pre-test of the questionnaire was conducted with the personal interviews, and after
checking for the reliability and validity of the data, we opened the questionnaire through
online and offline sources. In all, we received 120 responses, and after editing, we had to
eliminate 14 responses. We therefore analyzed our questionnaire with 106 responses.
The questionnaire consisted of questions from demographics like age, sex, non-resident
 IJHMA Indians (NRIs)/Indians, disposable income, average family size, profession, readiness to
9,4 buy and purpose of buying the residential complexes. Regarding the housing attributes
that customers prefer while buying a residential apartment, we included questions such
as bedroom– hall– kitchen (BHK); price; expected flat size; open area; floor level; duplex/
triplex preferences; added features such as premium finishing, air conditioning, location
preferences, proximity to work, proximity to schools, proximity to hospitals and
508 proximity to market; and amenities offered – health and fitness facilities, service
facilities, swimming pool, leisure and shared services.
We formulated the following hypotheses to analyze the housing attributes that
motivate the consumer to buy a residential apartment in Delhi NCR. The six formulated
hypotheses are:
H1. BHK preference does not depend on family size.
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H2. BHK preference does not depend on family income.

H3. BHK preference does not depend on marital status.
H4. BHK preference does not depend on purchase purpose.
H5. BHK preference does not depend on preference of floor level.
H6. Age has no impact on the location preference.

Data analysis and interpretation

The information of the respondents was collected using a structured questionnaire.
Profiles of the prospective customers for purchasing residential flats or complexes in
Delhi NCR were assessed using frequency and percentages. The chi-square test was
applied to determine key factors that motivate customers for buying residential flats.
The SPSS version 20 was used for the analysis of the data.

Residential real estate sector in Delhi NCR

Customers’ decision to buy residential flat is influenced by economic, social, political
and technological factors. The economic factors may include low interest rates,
controlled inflation levels and increase in the purchasing power of the consumers by
increasing the liquidity. The social factors that may show an impact on the real estate
sector include urbanization, increase in the per capita income, increase in consumption
and, hence, increase in the housing or residential demand. Political factors may include
government policies and reforms, reduction in the tax imposed on the construction
companies and FDI in this sector. Finally, the technological factors may include the
intervention of the media and the revolution in internet connectivity.
These factors have played an essential role in increasing the demand for the
residential flats in Delhi and NCR. NRIs and the residents of Delhi NCR, including
residents who have migrated from different parts of India, have further boosted the
demand in this sector(Nijman, 2000). The Indian residents have primarily migrated to
Delhi NCR due to better career opportunities and, in turn, higher income levels. In
general, the behavior of people regarding migration (to Delhi NCR) is influenced by the
benefits they receive (Rockeach, 1973), and their choice behavior in particular is
considered a dynamic process (Bettman, 1979). The mix of cultural values and choice
patterns of the people in Delhi NCR is complex, and people make their choices based on
the design of suitable solutions (Simon et al., 1987).
 Profile of respondents Preferences
The sample used possesses key demographic parameters resembling the population. for housing
Delhi NCR has a large number of the working population, as reflected in the median age
of 25 years (Mari Bhatt, 2001). In all, 52.8 per cent of the respondents are in the age group
attributes
of 25-30 years (Table I). Most of the respondents are male (82.07 per cent). Delhi NCR has
an annual income of INR 2.0-4.0m, with 47.17 per cent of the respondents earning an
income within this range. This may be attributed to the fact that residential flats attract 509
a higher proportion of people from the upper socioeconomic strata. With the rise in the
services sector in the Indian economy, more young people are demanding for residential
property. The people from small towns and cities have also migrated to Delhi NCR in the
past few years, which has further raised the demand for residential property near their
workplaces.
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Results and discussion

Data analysis using the chi-square test was found to be suitable (Malhotra, 2004).
Chi-square test of independence was used to provide useful insights on the dependence
of variance of one parameter of the sample with another. Using this analysis, we propose
to infer the relation among attributes and demographics of the respondents.
Respondents’ response for BHK preferences was recorded at the time of buying
residential apartments. We have selected Rank 1 preference specified and marked by
customers for BHK preference with respect to the number of family members, family
income per annum and marital status of the customers. H1, H2 and H3 are being tested
here using the chi-square test. We believe that the responses selected by customers have
an impact on the decision-making of the customer. The chi-square test (Table II) with
respect to the BHK preference Rank 1 (dependent variable) and family size (independent
variable) does not show a significant impact at 10 per cent level of significance. The
same was observed for BHK preference Rank 1 (dependent variable) and marital status
(independent variable) of the respondents, which does not show a significant impact at
10 per cent level of significance. The chi-square test result was found to be statistically
significant only with respect to the family income of the respondent. To buy selected
residential complex or flat of a specified BHK preference by the customer, it is only the
family income which plays a key role. Number of family members and marital status do

Demographic group Demographic sub-group No. (%)

Age group (years) 25-30 56 (52.8)

31-35 19 (17.9)
36-40 5 (4.7)
Above 40 26 (24.5)
Gender Male 87 (82.07)
Female 19 (17.93)
Family income per annum Less than INT 2.0m 0
INR 2.0-4.0m 50 (47.17)
INR 4.0-6.0m 26 (24.53) Table I.
INR 6.0m and above 30 (28.30) Profile of
All data 106 respondents
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9,4

BHK
510

Table II.
IJHMA

the respondents’
preference (Rank 1)
for the choice of the
Variables impacting
Respondents’ Rank 1 preference for BHK
Variables Customers’ choice parameters Three BHK (%) Four BHK (%) Five BHK (%) Six BHK (%) Total (%)

No. of family members Less than 4 19 (44.2) 14 (32.5) 7 (16.3) 3 (7) 43 (100)
(% within number of 4-6 23 (38.3) 22 (36.7) 13 (21.7) 2 (3.3) 60 (100)
family members) 6 and above 0 (0) 3 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 3 (100)
Total 42 (39.6) 39 (36.8) 20 (18.9) 5 (4.7) 106 (100)
Pearson’s chi-square results
Chi-square value is 6.726, which is statistically insignificant at 10% level of significance
Family income level Less than INR 2.0m 0 0 0 0 0
per annum (in Rs) INR 2.0-4.0m 27 (54) 17 (34) 6 (12) 0 (0) 50 (100)
(% within family INR 4.0-6.0m 9 (34.6) 13 (50) 2 (7.7) 2 (7.7) 26 (100)
income) INR 6.0m and above 6 (20) 9 (30) 12 (40) 3 (10) 30 (100)
Total 42 (39.6) 39 (36.8) 20 (18.9) 5 (4.7) 106 (100)
Pearson’s chi-square results
Chi-square value is 22.096, which is statistically significant at 10% level of significance. The calculated
Phi and Cramer’s value is also statistically significant at 10% level of significance
Marital status Married 19 (31.7) 23 (38.3) 15 (25) 3 (5) 60 (100)
Unmarried 23 (50) 16 (34.8) 5 (10.9) 2 (4.3) 46 (100)
Total 42 (39.6) 39 (36.8) 20 (18.9) 5 (4.7) 106 (100)
Pearson’s chi-square results
Chi-square value is 5.077, which is statistically insignificant at 10% level of significance
 not show any impact on the decision-making of the respondent’s choice of BHK, but Preferences
these variables are statistically insignificant at 10 per cent level of significance. for housing
Therefore, we can say that preference of three, four, five or six BHK flats or
residential complex is not impacted by the size of the family members and marital status
attributes
of the respondent. Further, buyer of the residential flat is married or not does not impact
his buying of a particular preference of BHK size. It is only the income level of the
respondents that influences the buying decision for preferred BHK size. This is in sync 511
with the study of Kapteyn et al. (1997), which has empirically shown that the base
amount varies due to the household category and the family income. We found that three
BHK residential flat is mainly preferred by the respondents with the income level of INR
2.0-4.0m, while six BHK residential flat is mostly preferred by the respondents with the
income level of INR 6.0 million and above (only 10 per cent of the respondents have
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preferred this option). We found that in Delhi NCR, the respondents prefer residential
flats for a particular BHK size only with respect to their income level and not by the
members of their family or their marital status. The overall budget allocation to housing
is consistent with earlier studies which have focused on the marginal increase in average
permanent income of the households which influences their choice patterns (Klevmarken,
1981; Goldberger and Gamaletsos, 1970; Lluch and Powell, 1975). When permanent income
increases, the income elasticity for housing is greater (Hansen et al., 1998).
To find if there are any other variables like purpose of buying or the floor level that
may impact the buying preference of three to six BHK residential flats by the
respondents, we have performed the chi-square test (Table III). We have selected the
variable that has four sub-categories, namely, buying for personal use, investment
purpose, family purpose or others (H4). Chi-square test at 10 per cent level of
significance shows that there is no significant impact of purpose of buying residential
flats on the purchase decision of three to six BHK preference Rank 1 given by the
respondents. Almost 42.5 per cent of the respondents prefer to buy four BHK residential
flats mainly for their personal use. Around 50 per cent of the respondents buy three BHK
residential flats but there is no impact noticed. Investment purpose of making the
purchase is the most prominent trend in the higher-income groups (annual family
income more than INR 6m). Purchasing the apartments for family/personal use is the
trend for almost all the income groups except the richest respondents.
We have performed the chi-square test also on the preference of the floor level and
three to six BHK buying preference of the respondents. We have used following
sub-categories for floor level preference: 1-6, 7-15 and above 15 (H5). The chi-square test
was found to be statistically significant at 10 per cent level of significance. We can say
that while buying residential flats, the respondents do prefer desired floor level and
decide accordingly. In all, 62.5 per cent of the respondents have a choice of floor levels 1
to 6 with respect to three BHK residential flats. There are only 4.2 per cent of the
respondents who prefer floor levels 1 to 6 and six BHK residential flats. We have
observed that floor levels 1-6 are preferred by respondents with family income of around
INR 2-4m per annum, whereas floor levels 7-15 are preferred by respondents with
income of more than INR 6.0m. This states that customers prefer three BHK and four
BHK-type configuration on the lower floors, with minimal percentage of population
preferring five BHK and six BHK types on floor levels 1 to 6. Therefore, it is safe to say
that the preference of five BHK-type apartment varies with the change of floor level. A
little more than 40 per cent of the respondents prefer higher floors for three BHK-type
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Table III.

respondents
Preferences of the
Respondents’ Rank 1 preference for BHK
Variables Customers’ choice parameters Three BHK (%) Four BHK (%) Five BHK (%) Six BHK (%) Total (%)

Purpose of buying residential Personal use 14 (35) 17(42.5) 9 (22.5) 0 (0) 40 (100)
flat Investment purpose 14 (41.2) 11 (32.4) 8 (23.5) 1 (2.9) 34 (100)
Family purpose 13 (50) 10 (38.5) 2 (7.7) 1 (3.8) 26 (100)
Other purpose 1 (16.7) 3 (50) 1 (16.7) 1 (16.7) 6 (100)
Total 42 (39.6) 39 (36.8) 20 (18.9) 5 (4.7) 106 (100)
Pearson’s chi-square results
Chi-square value is 10.138, which is statistically insignificant at 10% level of significance
Floor level preference to buy a Floor level 1to 6 15 (62.5) 6 (25) 2 (8.3) 1 (4.2) 24 (100)
residential flat (Rank 1) Floor level 7-15 22 (36.7) 21 (35) 13 (21.7) 4 (6.7) 60 (100)
Floor level above 15 5 (22.7) 12 (54.5) 5 (22.7) 0 (0) 22 (100)
Total 42 (39.6) 39 (36.8) 20 (18.9) 5 (4.7) 106 (100)
Pearson’s chi-square results
Chi-square value is 11.103, which is statistically significant at 10 per cent level of significance
 configuration, with the number decreasing with the rise in bedrooms in the Preferences
configuration. Therefore, we can say that respondents’ preference to buy three to six for housing
BHK residential flats depends on the floor level being provided by the seller.
Moreover, we wanted to see if there is any relationship between the age of the
attributes
respondents and the locality preference at the time of purchasing a residential complex
or flat. Table IV indicates location preferences do not show statistically significant
relations with age group (at 10 per cent level of significance). Results show that work 513
proximity and hospital proximity are most preferred by the respondents in the age
group of 31-35 years, school proximity is most preferred by the respondents in the age
group of 36-40 years and market proximity is the most preferred by the respondents in
the age group of 40 years and above. Moreover, surrounding infrastructure preferences
did not show significant relations with age. Maximum numbers of the respondents who
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plan to purchase for investment purpose prefer the proximity to workplace as the
location preference. A high number of respondents who are looking for buying a
residential flat only for an investment purpose mainly look for surrounding
infrastructure such as roads, lighting, water supply, etc. Respondents who plan to buy
for family purpose prefer the proximity to schools and hospitals as location preference.
Customers in Delhi NCR prefer to purchase residential flats only within their known
sources of income and accordingly plan to buy a desired BHK size apartment. Customers
also prefer to purchase apartments at a particular floor level. Proximity to schools, hospitals
and workplace is sometimes preferred by the respondents. The real estate market needs to
construct and make available housing to attract customers as per their preferences and
family income levels. Majority of people who demand residential flats are young and have
migrated from smaller cities to bigger cities within India. The above findings are also aligned
with those of Kano (1984). Family size, permanent income and employment also have an
impact on the real housing prices.

Managerial and practical implications

The housing sector in India has grown many folds. The companies in the real estate sector
focus on innovation and new techniques, discounts and payment schemes to attract
customers to choose their residential design over the other competitors in the market.
Looking at the customers’ feedback, suggestions and insights to their housing preferences
and choice behavior, we have formulated few practical and managerial implications for the
business managers and society in general. We propose the following points which may be
helpful in this regard:
• The study provides direction to the real estate sector to design their housing offerings
as per specific customer preferences. This will help them to reduce discrepancy
between currently marketed product and actual product being purchased and in turn
will increase demand for suitable housing designs.
• The housing designs should be suitable for Indian customers’ choice and preferences.
Foreign adaptations in Indian apartments are not generally accepted by the
customers. For example, foreign designs of kitchen or wooden stairs or sizes of BHK or
floor level preferences or other Western finishing are not preferred by Indian
customers. Therefore, the focus on the housing attributes and customers’ choice
behavior should be given utmost attention by the business managers and builders to
match the requirements of Indian customers. The more these qualities are met, the
more the customer will be satisfied with the house he prefers to buy (Kano, 1984).
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Table IV.
Customers’
preferences for

complex across
buying a residential

different age groups

Customer Respondents age group (in years)
preferences Customers’ choice parameters 25-30 (%) 31-35 (%) 36-40 (%) Above 40 (%) Total (%)

Location (Rank 1 by Proximity to work 25 (58.1) 10 (23.3) 2 (4.7) 6 (14) 43 (100)

respondents) Proximity to school 9 (45) 1 (5) 3 (15) 7 (35) 20 (100)
(% within location) Proximity to hospitals 3 (33.3) 3 (33.3) 0 3 (33.3) 9 (100)
Proximity to malls/retail 8 (53.3) 2 (13.3) 0 5 (33.3) 15 (100)
Surrounding infrastructure 11 (57.9) 3 (15.8) 0 5 (26) 19 (100)
Total 56 (52.8) 19 (17.9) 5 (4.7) 26 (24.5) 106 (100)
Pearson’s chi-square results
Chi-square value is 15.315, which is statistically insignificant at 10% level of significance
 • This study would help the builders in real estate to design their new Preferences
residential complexes suitable to the specific preferences and requirements of for housing
the Indian customers, as stated above.
attributes
• The researchers can use the methodology adopted above to carry out further
study of customer preferences in the residential real estate sector in smaller
towns in various parts of the country so that the above conclusions can be
revalidated. 515
• The above research would encourage the builders to make their offerings meet
the customers’ requirements and reduce wastage of valuable resources. In
addition, with increasing awareness on environmental sustainability issues
among the customers, the real estate sector would design their offerings in line
with the overall expectations of the society.
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Conclusions and recommendations

We can therefore conclude that the customers in Delhi NCR mainly prefer to buy
residential flats only if they have a sufficient family income to pay loan installments. It
has been seen that Indians are generally conservative and do not overspend or
over-commit beyond their known means of income. Housing preferences of Indian
customers are mainly influenced by the micro-level factors such as age, household
composition, income and current housing situations (consistent with the findings of
Clark and Dieleman, 1996). Findings suggest that the real estate consumers in Delhi
NCR have a preference for a low-rise housing complex. They prefer three BHK flat over
six BHK irrespective of the availability of financial resources. In the process of making
a choice of buying a housing apartment, the housing attributes, such as family size,
marital status or the purpose of buying residential complex, in the Indian context, do not
play an important role. We can therefore say that companies planning to launch
residential complexes in India may plan to focus their housing design on unit sizes of
three BHK or four BHK as against larger flats of six BHK. For the affluent segment,
however, special residential complexes of six BHK may be designed with all the
amenities. As this customer segment prefers higher-level floors, the lower floors may be
designed for three to four BHK luxury apartments.
The above research can be used by academicians to carry out detailed market study
in other parts of India and also smaller towns to re-validate the findings of the study.
The real estate sector can keep the findings of the study in view while planning their new
residential projects in various parts of India. This would help in growth of this sector in
India.

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About the authors

Dr Vijay Kumar Gupta is working as a Professor in the Operations Area at IMT Ghaziabad, India.
519
Dr Gupta has a PhD in TQM-CIM from IIT Delhi, with over 38 years of rich industry and academic
experience at top management positions. Dr Gupta was CEO (India) of JMA Management Center
Inc., Japan (a part of a multibillion-dollar consulting organization). Dr Gupta has held top
management positions such as CEO in leading India corporates and MNCs and has turned around
a number of sick companies into profitable businesses. Dr Gupta has over 100 international
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publications to his credit, including research papers in international journals, international

conferences, including National Standard on 5S, about 50 textbooks on Japanese management and
best practices, written, edited and published on behalf of JMA Group, Japan. Dr Gupta has been
awarded Post-Doctoral Fellow of Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management.
Dr Gunjan Malhotra is working as an Assistant Professor in the Decision Sciences and
Operations Area at IMT Ghaziabad. She is interested in management topics that are critical for
businesses, such as business statistics, operations research, social sciences and business
analytics. She has authored four books, contributed to 19 books and published 39 articles and
cases on these topics. Gunjan Malhotra is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:
mailforgunjan@gmail.com

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