Shelters or tax havens? Viral post explains why India's middle class is losing home ownership race
According to the post by a chartered accountant on X (formally Twitter), 59% of Indians have given up on owning a home — not out of choice, but sheer unaffordability.
- Jul 20, 2025,
- Updated Jul 20, 2025 10:39 PM IST
A stark post by a chartered accountant has ignited a wave of anger and introspection online, laying bare India’s housing crisis in numbers too sharp to ignore. The viral thread argues that the real estate sector is no longer a path to security but a fortress of inequality, pricing out millions of middle-class Indians.
According to the post on X (formally Twitter), 59% of Indians have given up on owning a home — not out of choice, but sheer unaffordability. And while inflation is part of the problem, the post points fingers at a broken system that sidelines the salaried class in favour of speculative wealth.
Math backs the claim
In just five years, average property prices in India’s top eight cities have doubled — from ₹5,500 per sq. ft in 2018 to ₹11,000 in 2023. In contrast, median salaries have barely moved: from ₹1.35 lakh a year in 2019 to ₹1.80 lakh in 2024, a mere 33% increase.
“Welcome to the Great Indian Inequality,” the post reads, arguing that the once-reliable 5-20-40 rule for home loans is now obsolete. By that logic, even a ₹10 lakh annual income barely scratches the surface — you’d need 20 years of untouched savings to buy a ₹2 crore home.
Rot runs deeper
The post exposes how black money props up the system. A ₹1 crore property should generate ₹32.5 lakh in taxes. But widespread underreporting — registering homes at ₹50 lakh and paying the rest in cash — brings the actual tax paid down to just 10%.
“The system teaches you how to cheat better, not earn better,” it adds.
Meanwhile, homes are no longer seen as shelter — they’re wealth vaults. The post describes how pre-launch bulk buying, agricultural income exemptions, and tax-loophole land deals allow the rich to treat property as a tax shelter. The result: constant demand from investors, leaving actual homebuyers behind.
In cities like Gurgaon, prices have soared so high that it's reportedly more expensive than New York — and that’s not hyperbole.
“The system was never meant for you.” Homeownership, once a milestone of the middle class, is increasingly out of reach — not because people aren’t working hard enough, but because the game is rigged.
A stark post by a chartered accountant has ignited a wave of anger and introspection online, laying bare India’s housing crisis in numbers too sharp to ignore. The viral thread argues that the real estate sector is no longer a path to security but a fortress of inequality, pricing out millions of middle-class Indians.
According to the post on X (formally Twitter), 59% of Indians have given up on owning a home — not out of choice, but sheer unaffordability. And while inflation is part of the problem, the post points fingers at a broken system that sidelines the salaried class in favour of speculative wealth.
Math backs the claim
In just five years, average property prices in India’s top eight cities have doubled — from ₹5,500 per sq. ft in 2018 to ₹11,000 in 2023. In contrast, median salaries have barely moved: from ₹1.35 lakh a year in 2019 to ₹1.80 lakh in 2024, a mere 33% increase.
“Welcome to the Great Indian Inequality,” the post reads, arguing that the once-reliable 5-20-40 rule for home loans is now obsolete. By that logic, even a ₹10 lakh annual income barely scratches the surface — you’d need 20 years of untouched savings to buy a ₹2 crore home.
Rot runs deeper
The post exposes how black money props up the system. A ₹1 crore property should generate ₹32.5 lakh in taxes. But widespread underreporting — registering homes at ₹50 lakh and paying the rest in cash — brings the actual tax paid down to just 10%.
“The system teaches you how to cheat better, not earn better,” it adds.
Meanwhile, homes are no longer seen as shelter — they’re wealth vaults. The post describes how pre-launch bulk buying, agricultural income exemptions, and tax-loophole land deals allow the rich to treat property as a tax shelter. The result: constant demand from investors, leaving actual homebuyers behind.
In cities like Gurgaon, prices have soared so high that it's reportedly more expensive than New York — and that’s not hyperbole.
“The system was never meant for you.” Homeownership, once a milestone of the middle class, is increasingly out of reach — not because people aren’t working hard enough, but because the game is rigged.