With the average price of a 3BHK apartment crossing ₹1.5 crore in several parts of Noida, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurugram, Hyderabad and Pune, many prospective homebuyers are asking the same question: Who is buying these homes? This sparked a debate on Reddit, with users discussing whether buyers are stretching themselves with hefty home loans or relying on parental wealth and family support.
Are dual income professionals buying these flats?
One of the strongest themes to emerge from the discussion was that many buyers are dual-income professionals, particularly those working in the technology sector.
One Redditor summed up what several described as a common homebuying template.
“Two IT people with salaries of 12 LPA and five years of experience each get married, ask their parents for ₹20-30 lakh and then take a ₹1.2 crore loan for a 3 BHK apartment.”
In many such households, one spouse’s salary is used to meet monthly living expenses while the other’s income goes largely towards servicing the home loan.
While this results in EMIs of nearly ₹1 lakh per month, several users argued that the burden would reduce over time as salaries rise.
Twenty-year loans rarely last 20 years
Although banks typically sanction home loans for 20-30 years, many homeowners said they have no intention of servicing them for the full tenure.
Several Redditors said borrowers often use annual bonuses, salary hikes and job switches to accelerate repayments.
One user wrote:
“Most of the home loans get paid in five to seven years. Twenty years is a myth.”
Others echoed the sentiment, saying that as careers progress, particularly in Bengaluru’s IT sector, borrowers increase their monthly EMIs or make regular partial prepayments, enabling them to close loans within six to ten years.
Renting versus buying
Several users argued that in Bengaluru’s technology corridors, where rents for a good three-bedroom apartment often range between ₹50,000 and ₹60,000 a month, ownership can make financial sense despite the higher EMI.
“Their salaries increase with inflation but loan EMI remains the same. If you can afford it now, it gets easier later,” one user commented.
Parents continue to play a role in financing home purchase
Another recurring theme was financial support from parents. Rather than financing the entire purchase, many families contribute towards the down payment, registration charges or interior work, significantly reducing the loan burden.
One Redditor said that they bought a home in Gurugram for ₹2.4 crore and “my FIL has given us 1 cr. 40 we took out from our savings. 1 cr loan. We did this because we were paying 60k in rent. Chose to pay this amount as EMI instead.”
One Redditor shared how a ₹1.3 crore under-construction apartment was financed:
- Parents contributed ₹30 lakh.
- The couple invested another ₹30 lakh from savings.
- Around ₹10 lakh was spent on registration and another ₹10 lakh was earmarked for interiors.
- The remaining ₹70 lakh was financed through a home loan.
The buyer said the plan is to progressively increase the EMI from ₹70,000 to more than ₹1 lakh every month as salaries grow, reducing the effective loan tenure to around six years.
“It all comes down to planning your budget carefully, preparing for four to six months without salary and increasing the EMI every year,” the user wrote.
Not everyone believes the risk is worth taking
The discussion also highlighted the widening affordability gap for single-income households.
One Redditor explained how her family chose not to purchase a flat in Bengaluru over a decade ago despite having a good salary because they lacked financial support from parents and were dealing with medical expenses and a young child.
“My husband’s salary has grown significantly over the last 13 years and is quite good today, yet we still live in a rented apartment,” she wrote.
She contrasted her experience with that of a relative who received financial assistance from family members for the down payment and registration costs, and eventually repaid the loan after moving overseas.
Several users said that without parental support or a second income, buying a ₹1 crore-plus home remains extremely difficult for many middle-class families.
Is it only NRIs and the wealthy?
Opinions differed on who is driving demand. Some users argued that the market is dominated by NRIs, wealthy families and buyers backed by generational wealth. Others disagreed, saying India’s technology sector has created a sizeable group of professionals in their 30s earning exceptionally high salaries.
“There are plenty of 30-something salaried professionals making crore-plus incomes. People underestimate how much some technology professionals earn,” one Redditor commented.
Changing homebuyer profile
The discussion suggests there is no single profile of India’s ₹1.5 crore homebuyer.
Instead, demand appears to be coming from a combination of:
However, the debate also underscored that while premium housing demand remains strong, affordability continues to be a significant challenge for single-income households and buyers without family support.
This is what financial experts have to say
According to Suresh Sadagopan, founder of Ladder7 Financial Advisories, “Every home purchase is different, and a lot depends on an individual’s financial situation. However, today’s employment landscape calls for caution. With artificial intelligence disrupting jobs across sectors, including IT, taking on a ₹2 crore home with a ₹1 crore or higher loan can be risky. If a borrower is without a job for even three or four months, servicing the EMI could become a major source of financial stress. Given the current job market, taking such a large loan may not be the wisest decision.”
There is also a false equivalence between rent and EMI. Many assume that if they are paying ₹50,000 in monthly rent, they can comfortably afford a similar EMI. In reality, that is rarely the case. For a ₹2 crore home, assuming a 20% down payment of ₹40 lakh and a loan of ₹1.6 crore, the monthly EMI could be close to ₹1.5 lakh, roughly three times the rent, he explains.
Loan costs depend on factors such as interest rates, tenure and credit score, but the difference is significant. While some buyers receive financial help from their parents, many contribute only 20-25% of the property’s cost.
“A more prudent approach would be to accumulate a larger down payment, perhaps 40-50% of the property’s value, before buying. This reduces the loan burden and provides greater financial resilience. Rather than assuming annual salary hikes will make future EMIs easier to manage, buyers should ask themselves a more important question: If I lose my job, can I continue paying this loan for several months,” he advises.
Homebuyers should prioritise financial security over excessive optimism when taking on large housing loans, he adds.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. Hindustantimes.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them)
