New Delhi, Sep 29 (TIWN) While the demand for 3BHK houses has outstripped that of 2BHKs for the first time, a Consumer Sentiment Survey said that the rise in home loan interest rate beyond the 9.5 % mark is likely to have a big impact on housing sales.

At least 44% of the respondents preferred 3BHKs, followed by 38% favouring 2BHKs, said the survey conducted by the Industry body CII-Abarock. In the survey’s H1 2021 edition, 46% preferred 2BHKs, and 40% voted for 3BHKs. Similarly, the demand for 4BHKs has also risen — from 2% in the pre-Covid survey to 7% now.  The survey, conducted between January and June 2022, polled 5,500 participants responding via various digital platforms.  This is even more significant considering that the survey also highlighted high inflation as a major cause of concern for respondent home buyers. 61% declared their disposable income as ‘majorly impacted’. Most survey participants (92%) predict that the economy will either stay at current levels or improve marginally over the next 12 months. In the H1 2021 survey, respondents were more bullish about the economy – at least 16% expected it to improve significantly over the next one year.