Spurred by stamp duty cut, uptick in property sales in Pune continues

The recovery in Pune’s property market in the December quarter has continued into the new year too. The cut in stamp duty announced by the Maharashtra government is set to end on March 31, resulting in a rush to register properties ahead of the deadline.

Larger developers have lined up project launches in the last two months to make the best of this run. The number of registrations in Pune has grown from 2.48 lakh in September 2020 to 4.59 lakh in December 2020.

According to Suhas Merchant, president of CREDAI Pune Metro, all the ready stock in Pune is sold out. CREDAI Pune Metro members were told to absorb 1% stamp duty cost till March 2021 so that the momentum could be maintained, and buyers effectively had to pay only 2% duty.

Paramvir Singh Paul, branch director-Pune, Knight Frank India, said homebuyer sentiments have turned positive after a pickup in sales. The acceptance of under-construction units has increased significantly, and this has encouraged developers to launch new projects, Paul said.

Buyers have responded well to new launches. According to Knight Frank data, during Q4 2020, Pune witnessed a 120.7% increase in new launches to 14,836 units compared to the third quarter of 2020.

The return of buyers has encouraged developers, including Mahindra Lifespaces, Shapoorji Pallonji, VTP Realty, Kolte Patil Developers, Godrej Properties and Purvankara, to launch new projects.

Mahindra Lifespaces launched a Rs 500-crore project with 600 units called Happinest at Tathawade. The stamp duty cut helped them offer 1 BHK homes starting at Rs 37.95 lakh. The Happinest Tathawade project has received over 400 applications even before it was formally launched, Viral Oza, chief marketing officer of Mahindra Lifespaces said. The project has been packaged as a post-Covid home with specially curated features and amenities to meet the needs of those working from home.

Oza said Pune is one of the most attractive, end-user driven property destinations in India and is a priority residential market for Mahindra Lifespaces. There is a structural change happening in the market and land deals in Pune have become more attractive, he said.

Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate has sold 600 apartments at its 148-acre Vanaha project launched in January. These apartments are in the Rs 39 lakh to Rs 89 lakh range. The mixed-used development near Bavdhan will have more than 6,000 apartments, commercial office spaces, retail, playgrounds, school and a hospital among other facilities, making it among the largest township projects being executed in the country.

In October 2020, Shapoorji Pallonji sold over 800 apartments at the launch of its Joyville brand homes at Hadapsar in east Pune, followed by Sensorium by Joyville in December 2020 with 1,100 apartments.

Gopal Sarda, Group CEO, Kolte Patil Developers, said Pune has one of the lowest unsold inventory levels in residential real estate markets, and consumer traction is seen across all product segments, including affordable, MIG and luxury homes. He expects the Pune real estate market to continue to do well, especially for large branded developers.

Kolte Patil Developers recently launched the project Universe at their Life Republic township and 200 units were booked in 25 days. The developer has acquired three new projects in Pune with a combined saleable areas of 2.2 million sq ft and will have several launches over the next six to nine months, Sarda said.

Godrej sold 802 homes with bookings worth Rs 440 crore. The company launched the Godrej Green Cover project in November 2020, which reported sales of 5,22,048 sq ft worth Rs 312 crore. VTP has launched a 100-acre township project called Bluewaters at Mahalunge and another gated community at Kharadi called VTP Pegasus.

Aditi Watve, president, investment sales & REIT advisory, ANB Capital Advisors and City Lead – Pune, ANAROCK property consultants, said there is an urgency to close the deals before March 31.