The house-owning age has dropped sharply in the past five years. Young people with money to spare are investing in apartments — and many are willing to shell out as much as 50 per cent of their salary for hefty EMIs, or equated monthly installments, an inevitable part of a young professional’s personal profile now.

“In the past few years, the average age of the buyer has dropped by about 10 years to a 30-35 age group,” reveals Pawan Agarwal, director, NK Realtors.

Asset-building

Why so young and this sudden need to spend it all on brick and mortar? “A probable reason could be the IT boom. There is a lot of disposable income in the 25-35 age bracket. And EMIs were a little lower initially, which might also have set the ball rolling,” says Jitendra Khaitan of Pioneer Property Management.

Echoes Abhishek Bandyopadhyay, a 27-year-old project associate with an IT company in Sector V: “We had extra cash in hand and thought it was best invested in an apartment.”

Abhishek is planning to buy another house in two years. He calls it “asset-building”.

Another 20-something Calcuttan who works as an IT professional in Bahrain is doing just that — he has bought a top-floor flat at Hiland Park and plans to buy another in south Calcutta.

Investment is the key to the door of the house bought by 28-year-old customer care executive Sudeshna Basu and her husband. The two continue to live with his family. “We haven’t moved into the flat that we bought recently and don’t plan on doing so soon. It was bought as an investment and as something that has a resale value,” clarifies Sudeshna.

Rising rent is another sound reason for being owner rather than tenant. Says Tandrima Bhattacharya, 32, who works as a training manager at Bharti Yatra: “We were paying around Rs 10,000 as rent and figured that it made more sense to pay a slightly higher amount as EMI and invest in a house.”

Solid security

Whether you buy a place of your own or not, chances are as a young couple you will continue to fight about whether a pizza dinner is acceptable or not and who should clean up the mess on the couch. Just like Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan in Salaam Namaste

There is also a special sense of “security” that only comes with a roof and four (or many more) walls. Investing in a house with every paisa of one’s life’s savings has traditionally been the thing to do in this part of the world. But now young people are buying property with the same zeal, almost as soon as they start earning.

“The trend of people saving till retirement and buying small houses is dying out. People invest more in mutual funds, shares, property and equity-linked savings accounts,” says Anasuya Ramana, branch manager of a multinational bank.

The fact is that a flat is sound investment. And any investment brings with it a sense of security. Despite steep EMIs.

As Jitendra Khaitan says: “EMIs have gone back to the same rates as they were about five years ago. So it isn’t as if buying a house is cheaper now. But there are four to five times as many people in the 25-35 bracket who are investing in houses. This age group generally applies for flats between Rs 15 to 35 lakh.”

Loans are more easily available — there are many more banks and many more options. Says Ramana: “Now loans are packaged differently. Banking has evolved and now a person applying for a loan has a lot of choices. Home loans are now more flexible, with longer tenure.”

She adds that home loans have become more accessible. So much so that people can walk into a bank asking for a home loan and the banker can show you a list of 10 properties that fit your bill.

Location is another trigger. Young people would prefer to move into a place closer to their offices or a place that is better connected. Says Joydeep Guha, 27, a senior research associate with Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB): “I stay with my parents in Kanchrapada. So commuting to my Theatre Road office every day is taxing. Which is why I plan to buy an apartment in south Calcutta within two years.”

The world is flat

The young aren’t buying or building houses — they are buying flats. Saving up to build a house has changed to saving up for the down payment. Though it might make financial sense to pay a higher down payment, and minimise EMIs, the immediate standard of living must also be maintained.

Which is why most would prefer to extend the tenure of loans and keep EMIs low, rather than sacrifice on partying during the weekend. “We can afford to pay off the car loan immediately, but prefer not to do so. It helps to have extra liquidity,” says Abhishek, whose household income (along with that of his wife) is Rs 10 lakh per annum.

But if it were a choice between a house and a car which would they rather have first? “A house,” Joydeep Guha replies promptly. “A house is an investment, while a car is a liability.”

For young buyers, EMIs can vary between Rs 6,000 and Rs 25,000. Sudeshna Basu shells out an EMI of Rs 6,000 from her and her husband’s combined income of around Rs 26,000 per month. Pratyush Mukherjee, a 29-year-old marketing executive in a financial company, will be comfortable paying Rs 18,000 a month. “That amounts to a third of my salary. That’s okay as I’m single,” he explains.

Wish list

A lot of factors go into the selection of a house: from whether it is in a building complex to whether it is an area that has a waterlogging problem, from safety to proximity to place of work or parents.

The condominium is the current craze. “New-age complexes have aspiration value,” points out Sumit Dabriwal, director of Calcutta Metropolitan Group Limited.

“Our brand philosophy of creating sports and recreational facilities along with building projects has an aspirational lifestyle and contemporary feel to it. We are addressing the younger, upwardly mobile buyer with international exposure,” adds the man behind Hiland Park.

The age group might have changed but the requirements haven’t. “Younger people or newly-married people are buying the same kind of flats that an older couple with kids would have bought,” stresses Pawan Agarwal.

“Earlier, 50-60 per cent of flats in a project would be three-bedroom flats and the rest would be two-bedroom. Now the number has changed to about 70 per cent three-bedroom apartments because that is what the young houseowner wants,” he adds.

Joydeep Guha would like his first flat to be on or off the E.M. Bypass, utilitarian and hassle-free. Account manager Debjeet Basu, on the other hand, is looking for an apartment in Rajarhat driven by “how much the prices will rise and the possible resale value”

A popular paint ad used to say: “Har ghar kuch kehta hai” — every home says something. Homes of young Calcuttans say many things. They spell investment and security, utility and independence, ambition and confidence, and chilling out despite EMIs.

It’s a new way of life.