The city has witnessed a home absorption of 17,500 units in the first half of 2019, a 1% increase over the same period last year, as per data released by CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India).
Bengaluru, almost on a par with Gurugram, has reported an uptick in the corporate real estate as well, accounting for 14 million sq. ft, of the country’s total absorption of 45 million sq. ft during the first half of 2019, said CREDAI.
At a media conference on Wednesday, Kishore Jain, president, CREDAI Bengaluru, said, “After a peak performance during 2003–06 period, when one of the years saw the numbers touching 50,000, the absorption numbers have declined to 35,000 levels in the last few years. However, we are seeing a slight improvement in the market, and outlook for the rest of the year should be good.”
The city currently has an apartment inventory of 1,03,000 as per CREDAI, though some foreign realty advisory firms say the numbers are higher. “Hundreds of columns of apartments are standing vacant across the city. All BHKs put together, the size of the inventory could be easily as high over 3,00,000 and in the BBMP limit itself the size could be half of it,” said a top source in the realty industry.
According to Mr. Jain, only a few projects have come to the market this year. “Therefore, the inventory will be cleared in zero to five years. Also, all these homes are not ready to move in, some are still in different stages of construction.”
Responding to a query on how realtors are planning to sell apartments when the millennials are in no mood to own houses, he said, “We have come up with co-living space that attracts the youth and mobile crowd. We have also tied up with NGOs to promote eco-friendly standards of living among our customers. We hope these strategies will increase sales and bring stability in the market.”