[ ![Peaceful Loans](../../assets/logo-horizontal.png) ](/index.html) [ Book a Free Call ](https://forms.zohopublic.in/mangeshpeacef1/form/Contactforsupport/formperma/_ps6Hq-7OvODRTnKowl1_FxyIIKmnPIywn1z6WV7i4M) [ WhatsApp Us ](https://forms.zohopublic.in/mangeshpeacef1/form/WhatsAppButtonForm/formperma/F2z-Z2bBLbkttGWHBPPvrqSwlSXzd_WnD4sUAWNnjh4) Guest Column · Insider 7 September 2026 Guest Column · Secondary Market Reality Check # Are We Starting to Switch Homes Every 8–10 Years Like Cars? The Harsh Reality of the Resale Market DS Dinesh Singh Guest Contributor Founder, Krishna Housing & Unboxing Real Estate · 14+ Years in MMR Real Estate [ Connect on LinkedIn → ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinesh-singh-50b56b7b?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios) ![Are People Starting to Switch Homes Every 8–10 Years Like Cars?](../../assets/blogs/are-we-switching-homes-every-8-10-years-like-cars.png) I was recently talking to a client—a former fund manager at Axis Securities—and he made an observation that stopped me in my tracks: **homes in Indian metros are heading the exact same way as consumer tech and automobiles.** For decades, the Indian middle class treated a residential property as a once-in-a-lifetime milestone. You took out a 20- or 25-year mortgage, moved in, raised your family, and perhaps retired there. That paradigm is quietly vanishing. Driven by lifestyle aspirationalism, social media, peer circles, and an endless barrage of luxury amenities in glossy new launch brochures, urban homeowners are being conditioned to upgrade their living spaces every 8 to 10 years. Homes are becoming "lifestyle vehicles." On the surface, this sounds like the natural evolution of an upwardly mobile society. But as someone who has been on the ground in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) real estate market since 2012—representing the second generation of a firm with a 34-year legacy in construction and housing—I see a colossal contradiction brewing underneath. One that almost nobody in the mainstream media or brokerage ecosystem is willing to discuss openly. ## The Contradiction Nobody Talks About The Mumbai Metropolitan Region is currently witnessing a redevelopment and construction boom unlike anything seen in our four decades in this business. Tower cranes punctuate the skyline in every single direction. Yet, if urban buyers are truly expected to treat apartments like cars—trading them in every 8–10 years for the newer model—it violently collides with one of India's most deeply held financial dogmas: ***"Residential property never depreciates."*** At India's current per capita income level of roughly ~$3,000, the arithmetic simply does not support both realities simultaneously. You cannot have high-churn lifestyle upgrades coexisting with guaranteed permanent capital appreciation. I see people contradict this belief every single day in the secondary market. If they don’t realise it while browsing Instagram reels of new clubhouse launches, they get a brutal wake-up call the moment they attempt to sell their existing property. ## A Site Visit from Eight Months Ago Eight months ago, I accompanied a client to a site visit for an upscale under-construction project in a suburban micro-market that has seen an influx of high-density towers. My client had bought his existing 2BHK at the peak of the COVID surge in 2020. During the discussion, the builder’s senior sales representative asked how he planned to finance the ₹2.8 Crore upgrade. My client answered plainly: *"I'll sell my existing flat; the equity from that will serve as my down payment, and I'll fund the balance with a home loan."* The sales representative looked at him and said something I had never heard a builder’s executive say in all my years in real estate: "Sir, given the current state of the resale market, we strongly recommend you do not enter serious negotiations with us until your existing property is actually sold and the money is cleared in your account." When a developer’s own sales engine—whose sole mandate is to push units and hit quarterly revenue targets—tells a buyer to pause because the secondary market is frozen, that tells you everything you need to know. ## What Is Actually Happening in the Secondary Market? Between 2014 and 2019, Indian real estate went through nearly seven consecutive years of stagnant, flat pricing. While the post-COVID wave created a sharp spike in select pockets, the reality for the average residential investor has been far less glamorous. Today, a substantial number of sellers who purchased apartments post-2015 are struggling just to recover their original invested capital—especially once you factor in registration charges, stamp duty, interest paid on mortgages, and ongoing society maintenance fees. Some are selling at a straight nominal loss. That is the real, unvarnished state of the secondary market. Why? Because the market is flooded with competing primary supply. When a buyer enters a micro-market with money in hand, why would they purchase an 8-year-old resale unit when three massive new projects next door are offering subvention schemes, infinity pools, modular kitchens, and flexible 10:90 payment milestones? ## The Broken Broker Incentive Machine There is an even deeper reason resale properties sit on the market for months without genuine buyer inquiries: **the incentive structure for channel partners and brokers is fundamentally distorted.** Developers routinely pay brokers aggressive commissions—often 3% to 5%, plus performance kickbacks, international junkets, and high-value prizes—to clear inventory in new launches. In the resale market, by contrast, the broker earns a standard 1% or 2%, which requires navigating arduous title verifications, society NOCs, bank loan releases, physical property visits, and endless price haggling with individual sellers. Ask yourself from a broker’s commercial perspective: *Why would an agent spend 30 to 45 days negotiating a difficult resale transaction for a fraction of the payout, when they can simply steer that same buyer into a sparkling new launch down the road and pocket a developer cheque in 48 hours?* Resale quietly drops to the absolute bottom of the broker’s priority stack. Not necessarily because it is bad for the client, but because it is terrible for the broker's commission. The "advice" buyers receive is rarely about what makes sound long-term financial sense; it is shaped almost entirely by distributor economics. ## Three Questions the 8–10 Year Churn Forces Us to Confront If the 8-to-10-year upgrade cycle becomes the standard urban norm, three critical structural questions demand answers: ### 1. The Concrete Question Between private developer high-rises, Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) schemes, MHADA redevelopments, and massive cluster redevelopments across MMR, the sheer volume of concrete being poured simultaneously is staggering. The supply pipeline is virtually limitless. (Cement manufacturers will certainly do well, as my friend Paritosh rightly observed.) ### 2. The Infrastructure Question Are the underlying civic lifelines keeping pace? Can municipal water lines, stormwater drainage, sewage plants, electrical substations, and internal access roads actually support three times the previous population density once all these multi-storey towers are fully occupied? ### 3. The Valuation Arithmetic Until 2020, supply was severely constrained in South Mumbai and prime suburban pockets, which is why Mumbai real estate commanded astronomical scarcity premiums. Today, new "luxury" micro-markets are mushrooming across distant peripheries, some retailing at ₹35,000 to ₹60,000 per square foot, and new launches are somehow absorbed. But if people are expected to keep upgrading every 8 to 10 years, can asset values realistically keep compounding forever to fund that upgrade? The last decade says no. Everyone remembers the 2021–2023 surge; almost everyone conveniently forgets the seven flat years that preceded it. ## In 14 Years, I Have Seen Only Three Residential Investors Make Real Money I meet resellers almost daily in my line of work, and I hate having to tell them the real, hard truth about their specific micro-market. They instinctively benchmark their asking price against whatever shiny new launch is selling nearby, with its inflated "prices only go up" marketing pitch. Case after case, people trying to upgrade are taking a direct haircut. In nearly 14 years in this profession, I have sold precisely **three** residential properties to pure investors that yielded meaningful post-tax profits—and even in those three instances, the annualized returns fell short of what a basic index fund or fixed deposit would have yielded with zero tenant headaches. Meanwhile, developers and their sales teams keep merrily promising astronomical future returns. ## The Real Estate Pyramid Indian residential real estate functions like a classic distribution pyramid: ▲ / \ THE DEVELOPER / \ (Builds, markets, collects cash, exits liability) /-----\ / \ BROKERS & INFLUENCERS / \ (Chasing 3–5% launch commissions) /-----------\ / \ THE END-BUYER BASE / \ (Driven by peer pressure, parents, & social media FOMO) /-----------------\ Both the broker and the developer are primarily interested in closing the transaction today. Once the registration agreement is stamped and keys are handed over, neither is responsible for holding the buyer's hand through the landmines that follow: structural deterioration, escalating maintenance charges, property tax revisions, and secondary market illiquidity. ## Society Upkeep: Why "Old Is Not Always Gold" For years, I have urged management committees of older cooperative housing societies (including our own) to prioritize sinking funds and maintain their buildings aggressively—if not for collective pride, then for pure, selfish financial preservation. In today’s market, buyers look at resale properties above 15 years old, and the moment they see dilapidated facades, peeling plaster, shoddy plumbing, and neglected common areas, they walk away—even if the individual apartment is beautifully furnished. **News flash: Old is not always gold!** The beauty of free markets is that this realization is finally dawning on housing society members. They are beginning to understand that proactive maintenance is essential to protect their property valuations relative to shiny new constructions. For end-users, fairly valued older resale properties that are well-maintained and centrally located often provide significantly better value than cramped, high-density, high-maintenance new launches. ## The Pragmatic Buyer's Playbook: 7 Non-Negotiable Rules If you are in the market to buy a home today, here are seven rules forged from 14 years of ground realities: - **Buy strictly for end-use, never for passive speculation.** Treat your home purchase as consumption and emotional security, not an equity portfolio. - **Anchor yourself to functional infrastructure corridors.** Prioritize operational metro lines, arterial expressways, and stable water/power supplies over promises of future master plans. - **Choose builders with a verified delivery track record.** Occupation Certificates (OC) matter far more than sample flat interior decor. - **Do not over-leverage.** Your monthly mortgage payment should never stretch your household finances so thin that an unexpected job change triggers panic. - **Get the extra room if your budget allows.** Buying a 3BHK instead of a 2BHK gives your family a 15-year runway, preventing an expensive, forced resale upgrade after 7 years. - **Avoid units on the main road / high-traffic perimeter.** Noise and vehicular pollution permanently degrade living quality and hurt long-term resale appeal. - **Insist on real market valuation—never overpay.** Benchmark against registered resale transaction data in the sub-registrar’s office, not builder marketing hoardings. *Caveat emptor.* In a market inundated with concrete, your greatest asset is independent discernment. Thank you for reading. DS About the Guest Contributor ### Dinesh Singh Dinesh Singh is the Founder at **Krishna Housing** and the creator of **Unboxing Real Estate**. Representing the second generation of a firm with a 34-year legacy in construction and real estate, Dinesh brings over 14 years of hands-on experience evaluating micro-markets, secondary sales, and investment yields across Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Thane. [ Connect with Dinesh Singh on LinkedIn → ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinesh-singh-50b56b7b?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios) Before You Sign Anything ## Talk to us first. It's free. Free advisory call. 30 minutes. No strings. Just the unvarnished truth about your home loan and property agreement—from someone who works only for you. 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