The analysis was done by UK-based firm, which revealed that of 20 cities studied across the world for ‘most happy’ and ‘least happy’, Mumbai topped in the latter. The data was based on an analysis of geotagged Instagram pictures using an artificial intelligence tool
Five Indian cities featured in the list of top 20 cities with most happy home buyers. Photo: iStock.
A recent artificial intelligence-based analysis of Instagram pictures across United Kingdom, United States and other cities around the world revealed that Mumbai is the least happy city in the world to buy a house. The study was conducted by Online Mortgage Advisor, a mortgage broker firm based in the United Kingdom.
ADVERTISEMENT
Based on the difference between the average level of happiness of a home buyer at a global level and that of a specific city, top 20 cities were identified in the ‘most happy’ and ‘least happy’ categories. Mumbai topped the ‘least happy’ list with a happiness score of 68.4 per cent, 17.1 per cent lower than the global average among home buyers. Surat was another Indian city which featured in the same list with an average happiness score of 70.2 percent that is 12.8 per cent lower than the global score.
On the other hand, Barcelona in Spain, was found to be the ‘most happy’ city in the world to buy a home with an average happiness score of 95.4 per cent. Interestingly, five Indian cities featured in the 20 ‘most happy’ list with Chandigarh on the fifth position, followed by Jaipur, Chennai, Indore and Lucknow on the 10, 13, 17 and 20th positions.
The one-of-a-kind analysis, conducted in August 2021 and published in September, was performed using two sets of specifically geotagged Instagram posts—one with #selfie and the other with hashtags relating to recent home purchase such as #homeowner.
The analysts used Microsoft Azure facial recognition tool to scan hundreds of thousands of pictures of face and to detect different levels of emotions. The tool helped in detecting and scoring the most popular emotions on the social media application.
‘Happiness’, ‘Surprise’, ‘Neutral’ and ‘Negative’ emotions were identified to be the most popular among general Instagram users. Among home buyers, around 83 per cent of the photos scanned displayed the emotion of happiness, 15 per cent displayed a neutral emotion and only one percent showed a surprise and negative emotions like sadness or anger.
Geotagged pictures formed the key to identify the location from where the photo was uploaded and to classify data according to the cities. For the global analysis, a city was included in the data if at least 100 AI-detectable photos were geotagged there.
Mumbai, popularly called maximum city, has been witnessing an ever increasing demand in the real estate sector leading to property prices sky-rocketing with every passing year. In July 2021, a report by Indian real estate firm ANAROCK showed that Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune accounted for 53 per cent of all residential units sold in the first quarter, which was higher than the pre-Covid levels for the same period.
The MMR comprising nine municipal corporations of Greater Mumbai, Thane, Navi-Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivali, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi, Vasai-Virar, Mira-Bhayander and Panvel alone accounted for 35 per cent of the sales, making it the largest market for residential sales in the country.
Owning a house is believed to be the first investment for future security, which then opens up avenues for taking further steps in the property ladder. With greater aspirations and increasing demand surging the prices of property spaces, buying a house in a city like Mumbai has become a distant dream for many.
Also Read: How young people are encouraging sexual health conversations among peers
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
