Burgeoning credit growth, particularly in housing and personal loans, indicates steady domestic household demand Pent-up demand and robust consumer sentiment for home ownership in the aftermath of the pandemic underlay strong recovery in the residential housing sector in 2022-23, as per RBI’s latest annual report. In 2022- 23, housing launches improved consistently in terms of completed projects after two years of intermittent shutdowns. “Housing sales picked up in H1 (April-September):2022-23 and recovered in Q4 (January-March) after briefly losing momentum in the third quarter. As launches surpassed sales, unsold inventory increased,” the report said. RBI noted that burgeoning credit growth, especially housing and personal loans, reflects steady domestic household demand. On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, non-food bank credit registered a growth of 15.4 per cent in March 2023 compared with 9.7 per cent a year ago. Despite headwinds, corporate investments picked up in recent period: RBI Annual Report Personal loans registered a growth of 20.6 per cent (y-o-y) in March 2023 as compared with 12.6 per cent a year ago, primarily driven by ‘housing loans’. Housing loans registered a growth of 15 per cent (y-o-y) in March 2023 as compared with 12.9 per cent a year ago, primarily driven by ‘housing loans’. RBI said burgeoning credit growth, especially housing and personal loans, reflects steady domestic household demand. The central bank assessed that the outlook for services sector remains positive in 2023-24. Challenges for market borrowings expected to persist, says RBI Annual Report Real estate and construction have witnessed a revival post-pandemic and are expected to perform well in this year also as both demand for and supply of housing remain buoyant, it added. The report said housing inflation remained muted, averaging at 4.3 per cent in 2022-23, reflecting subdued rental demand on account of hybrid work culture.