Unsold inventory overhang in Mumbai reduces on higher home sales: Report

MUMBAI: The spurt in home sales between the two waves of the pandemic has resulted in the unsold inventory overhang in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region for realty players dipping to 43 months as of June 2021, a report said on Wednesday.

The inventory overhang had shot up to 55 months in 2020 but has come down on the back of the sale of over 58,000 units during the pandemic period, the report by Anarock Property Consultants said.

Higher overhang of inventory delays income realisations for realtors and creates problems for the industry.

It can be noted that the state government had halved duties levied on real estate transactions to prod housing sales in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The brokerage said lowest-best home loan interest rates, and discounts from developers also helped in the higher sales of houses.

MMR's drop of 12 months' inventory overhang is the biggest among all top seven cities, it said, adding that the current unsold inventory overhang is close to being back to the level last seen in 2015, when it was 42 months.

The megapolis saw the maximum yearly decline of 6 percentage points in its overall unsold stock – from approximately 2.10 lakh units as on Q2 2020 to approx 1.97 lakh units as on Q2 2021, it said.

"Until just a few years ago, the property market in many areas of MMR was more or less defined by unaffordability. In that respect, the pandemic was a gamechanger for the region," company chairman Anuj Puri said.

The brokerage said property prices in Mumbai had increased by as much as 7-10 times over the past 20 years.

The average number of monthly incomes required to own a home in this city is the highest among major Indian cities at between 67-90 times of an average monthly income.