Housing sales overcome covid-19 blues, surge 29% in Q1: Survey
- Average property prices in the top seven cities saw marginal movement with most recording a rise of 1-2% over Q1 2020, except Kolkata, where prices remained stagnant
Driven by stamp duty cut in some states, fall in home loan rates and developer discounts, Indian housing sector has finally managed to recover from the pandemic blues as sales in the top seven cities surged by 29% in the March quarter, breaching the pre-covid levels.
As many as 58,290 homes were sold in the top seven cities in Q1 compared with 45,200 units last year, Anarock data showed on Thursday.
TRENDING STORIESSee All
Also Read | Lessons from India’s tryst with lockdown
Mumbai Metropolitan Area (MMR) and Pune together accounted for 53% of housing sales in the quarter. MMR sales increased by 46% annually, and Pune by 47%. With around 8,670 units sold, Bengaluru was the only city in the top seven to not record a major yearly change in total sales numbers in this quarter.
Average property prices in the top seven cities saw marginal movement with most recording a rise of 1-2% over Q1 2020, except Kolkata, where prices remained stagnant. The National Capital Region (NCR) and Bengaluru saw property prices rise by 2% during the year.
View Full Image
According to Anarock, new launches spiked by 51% during the quarter against the corresponding period last year. New launches in the top seven cities yielded 62,130 units against 41,220 units last year. Bengaluru was the only city to see a 11% yearly drop in new launches. MMR, Pune, and Hyderabad together contributed 66% of the total new supply in the quarter.
In a major positive sign for the realty sector, data showed that despite spiraling new launches over the past two quarters, unsold inventory saw a nominal yearly decline from 6.44 lakh units against 6.42 lakh units last year. However, on a sequential basis, the unsold stock rose by 1% due to a robust healthy new launch pipeline in most cities.
MORE FROM THIS SECTIONSee All
“Demand boosters like stamp duty cuts, further reductions in home loan rates by most banks (to 6.70%) and ongoing developer discounts and offers helped the residential sector stage a convincing comeback in Q1 2021. Egged on by buoyant sales and enthusiastic consumer sentiment in the October-December period, developers launched several new projects in this quarter - with some spill-over from the pandemic-dampened 2020 pipeline," said Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock Property Consultants.
In terms of new launches, Hyderabad recorded over 270% rise in new supply from 3,380 units last year to 12,620 units to March 2021 quarter. Pune and MMR saw 77% and 41% annual rise, respectively.
Anarock survey also showed that overall unsold stock in Q1 2021 over Q1 2020 saw negligible change, as new supply between Q4 2020 and Q1 2021 outpaced overall absorption numbers. MMR witnessed the highest yearly reduction in unsold inventory of 8%, while Bengaluru and Kolkata witnessed yearly reductions of 7% each. In contrast, the unsold stock increased by 81% in Hyderabad in the same period, due to considerable new supply hitting the city in the last two quarters.
Click here to read the Mint ePaperMint is now on Telegram. Join Mint channel in your Telegram and stay updated with the latest business news.