Bengaluru home-buying sees fastest pick-up among metros this year: Anarock

Bengaluru has witnessed highest decline in unsold housing stock among seven major cities in the last one year at 25 per cent on the back of better sales, according to property consultant Anarock.

The unsold housing stock in Bengaluru stood at 76,500 units at the end of July-September quarter (Q3 of 2018 calendar year), down 25 per cent from 1,02,740 units in the year-ago period.

Pune reported a 10 per cent fall in unsold inventories to 90,610 units in Q3 2018 as against 1,01,020 units in Q3 2017. The Delhi-NCR market also saw 9 per cent decline in unsold stocks to 1,90,650 units from 2,09,430 units.

There were marginal drop of 1-2 per cent in unsold stock in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Hyderabad, while there were increase in Chennai and Kolkata by 7 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

"Bengaluru's real estate market has out-performed all other cities in terms of shedding unsold housing inventory. Bengaluru saw a remarkable decline of 25 per cent in the total unsold stock across the top cities," Anarock said in its report, which was released at ACETCH 2018 in Bengaluru last week.

The report tracked Bengaluru's residential real estate trends since 2013, factoring in the city's evolution in terms of infrastructure development, transport and connectivity.

"Burgeoning commercial activity, a cutting-edge start-up culture and realistic property prices dictated by end-user demand have kept Bengaluru's real estate market vibrant, and generally more resilient than in other cities," said Anuj Puri, Chairman - Anarock Property Consultants.

IT/ITeS sector continues to drive most of the city's residential demand and supply, and housing sales have remained healthy despite all macroeconomic headwinds, he added.

Bengaluru's housing sales increased by 26 per cent in Q3 2018 over the same period last year, the highest amongst all cities. Overall unsold stock declined by 32 per cent and stood at 76,550 units in Q3 2018 in contrast to 1,12,995 units in Q3 2015.

"Salubrious climate, favourable government policies and relatively affordable property rates have attracted several global IT/ITeS firms to set up their base in the city over the last two decades, followed by a spurt in residential demand by the IT-ITeS professionals to Bengaluru. Driven largely by the end-users, the real estate market in the city has been very resilient even during the slowdown period witnessed across the country," Puri said.

With property prices always been under check, he said the city saw emergence of significant real estate trends, including the walk-to-work concept.

Infrastructure woes led to massive traffic snarls, which is the key reason why builders are promoting walk-to-work concept. The land supply within city limits has led to development of mixed-use townships, including commercial, residential, retail, etc.

"Thus, the 'walk-to-work' concept has gained prominence in the city with professionals opting to live-work-play in these zones itself," Puri said.