Unaffordable

AS CUSTOMER PREFERENCES EVOLVE AND RISING COSTS PUSH DEVELOPERS TO HIGHER-PRICED SEGMENTS, THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING SPACE IS FEELING THE BRUNT OF DEPLETING SALES. AND THERE'S NO RELIEF IN SIGHT

- ARNAB DUTTA

AN ACCOUNTANT IN a mid-sized company, Rahul Sharma from Moradabad has been living in Delhi since 2013. For the past many years, 35-year-old Sharma had been dreaming of buying a home in the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). He was resigned to the fact that with his budget, he could only get a small house in the affordable housing segment. But when he finally entered the market last year, he picked a regular-sized property in Noida Extension for around ₹65 lakh. With two fullsized bedrooms, a dining room, a drawing room and a study-cum-kids room, the apartment is much larger than what he had planned for earlier. As for his budget, he ended up spending at least