3 Innovative Ways to Capitalize on India's Housing Market Without Buying Property
Ever wondered who is really profiting from India’s housing boom? A property cycle initiates demand across a wider system, from construction suppliers to digital marketplaces and housing lenders. According to property consultants ANAROCK, India’s home property market is showing renewed momentum. Housing sales across the top seven cities crossed 3.96 lakh units in 2025, with a 6% rise in demand for luxury high-value homes to ₹6 lakh crore.
Home financing grew just as quickly. According to the Economic Survey 2025-26, unpaid housing loans in India tripled to ₹37 lakh crore as of 31st March 2025, up from ₹10 lakh crore at the end of March 2015. Despite the high growth, mortgage penetration hovered at around 11% of GDP, leaving ample room for expansion as incomes grow and urbanisation continues.
But that’s not as interesting as knowing the hidden recipients of a housing boom. These businesses are capturing value from rising housing demand without taking the balance-sheet risks related to real estate expansion. Three companies show how different layers of this ecosystem benefit from India’s housing expansion: CERA Sanitaryware, Info Edge, and Home First Finance.
Supply Chain Plays: Why CERA Sanitaryware Wins When New Projects Launch
A housing boom not only benefits developers but also every new home built creates a demand for construction inputs, from tiles and pipes to bathroom fittings. Wash basins, bathroom fittings, taps, and bathtubs are used in every housing project, which means the need for these products is directly connected to residential constructions.
CERA Sanitaryware manufactures bathroom faucets, bathroom fittings, and sanitaryware products. It was chosen as a representation for the construction side of the housing cycle because of its strong brand positioning in sanitaryware and a nationwide distribution network. The company’s financials reflect its strength among its peers. In FY2025, it posted revenues of ₹1,915 crore with a net profit of ₹246 crore excluding exceptional items. It runs with minimal debt and has robust return ratios historically. Its return on capital employed in FY25 was 21% while the return on equity was 18%.
In 9M FY26, it had a revenue of ₹1,453 crore, up about 5% YoY, while the profit after tax was ₹127 crore, slipping about 21.2% YoY. Its stock price fell by over 12% in the past year (5303 on Mar 25 – 4682.6 in Mar 26) due to weak results, including shrinking profits, modest sales expansion, and a 50% gas supply limitation due to the West Asian crisis. The stock is underperforming due to weak investor sentiment and bearish market movements.
Within the broader building materials sector, listed peers include Kajaria Ceramics and Somany Ceramics, which supply tiles used in residential construction. However, CERA focuses on more than just tiles. It emphasizes premiumisation, which makes it slightly different within the housing supply chain. With improved housing quality and homeowners spending more on interior upgrades, bathroom fittings are increasingly being treated as lifestyle products instead of regular utilities.
Digital Gatekeepers: Info Edge and the 99acres Factor
Once homes are built and new projects enter the market, the next stage of the housing cycle begins: buyers start searching for properties. Increasingly, most of those searches begin online. Within India’s online real estate marketplace, competitors include Housing.com and MagicBricks, though these platforms are privately held. This makes Info Edge one of the few listed firms that lets investors discover properties online.
Through its real estate platform 99acres, the company profits from rising property listings, developer promotions, and buyer traffic as housing demand improves. Financially, Info Edge runs one of India’s biggest internet marketplace businesses. The company, which also owns Naukri.com among other businesses, had a consolidated revenue of roughly ₹2,850 crore in FY25, with a profit after tax of ₹515 crore, excluding exceptional items.
This growth was driven by strong operating margins and a negligible debt balance sheet with significant cash reserves. The return on capital employed was 3% while the return on equity was 1.16% during the past year. In 9M FY26, it had a revenue of ₹2,180 crore, rising about 11.7% YoY. The operating profit was ₹815 crore, growing about 35.3% YoY. Its operating margins improved 300 bps consecutively.
However, its stock price fell by over 26% (1,301.44 in Mar 25 – 955.4 in Mar 26) in the past year. While the company is best known for its recruitment platform Naukri.com, its portfolio also includes 99acres, which makes money through property listings, developer promotions, premium listings, and generating leads. The portal model implies Info Edge gains from property transactions and discovery, rather than construction costs or property price movements.
Affordable Housing Mortgages: The Home First Finance Growth Engine
Once buyers discover a property, the final stage of the housing cycle begins: financing the purchase. A large share of homebuyers depends on mortgages, so housing finance companies play a significant role in aiding smooth property transactions. This is why we chose Home First Finance, as it works with first-time homebuyers in the affordable housing market, which is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the Indian mortgage industry.
Financially, Home First has been growing quickly. The company stated a revenue of ₹1,539 crore in FY2025, up 33% YoY, while net profit reached about ₹382 crore (excluding exceptional items). Growth has continued into the current year as well. The AUM had increased to nearly ₹14,925 crore, growing about 25% YoY, due to expanding demand for reasonably-priced housing loans in Q3 FY26. Its revenue was ₹482 crore, up about 19%, while its profit after tax was ₹140 crore excluding exceptional items.
Its return on Assets (ROA) was 4%, a growth of 60bps, while the return on equity for the quarter was 13.7%, rising 290 bps YoY. Its stock price stayed flat without much rise. Within the housing finance sector, peers include Aavas Financiers, LIC Housing Finance, and others. While LIC Housing Finance works in a broader mortgage market, companies such as Home First and Aavas focus more on niche loan segments, which include self-employed individuals and first-time homebuyers.
Together with construction suppliers and property platforms, housing finance companies form the final link in the broader housing ecosystem, funding the demand that eventually drives the entire cycle.
Why the Housing Ecosystem Matters for Investors
Housing cycles hardly ever benefit just one segment of the market. A sustained rise in property demand creates ripple effects across industries, from construction materials to digital marketplaces and mortgage lenders. Each layer of this ecosystem captures value differently. Companies like CERA benefit when more homes are built, Info Edge benefits when more homes are searched and listed, and Home First benefits when more homes are financed through mortgages.
For investors, these ecosystem companies offer an alternative to gain from the housing uptrends without taking direct developer risks.
Risks Investors Should Consider
Despite the optimistic housing cycle, investors must consider several risks across the ecosystem. Housing demand is often sensitive to interest rate changes. Increasing mortgage rates could reduce property purchases and cut loan growth for housing finance companies. Moreover, businesses in the construction supply chain, such as sanitaryware manufacturers, face input cost instability, mainly in raw materials and energy prices, which can influence margins. Digital property platforms rely partly on developers’ spending on advertising, which can change with the property cycle.
These risks mean that while the housing network may gain from real estate demand, each segment responds differently to changes in the property market.
The Bigger Question for Investors
India’s housing market still has sizable room for growth. Mortgage penetration has remained relatively low compared to developed markets, while urbanisation still drives long-term housing demand. But the most attractive opportunities may not always be in buying the property itself. Sometimes, the companies silently enabling the housing market, those supplying homes, facilitating transactions, or financing purchases, generate significant value without the direct risks of property development.
