Housing sales fall 35% in 8 cities; supply dips 83%: PropEquity

Housing sales fell by 35 per cent across eight major cities in the July-September quarter this year as demand slowdown continued in the property market, says research firm PropEquity.

Housing sales stood at 22,699 units during the third quarter of 2017 in eight major cities as against 34,809 units in the previous quarter.

These eight cities are Gurgaon, Noida, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.

"Housing demand (absorption) across key cities dropped by 35 per cent to 22,699 units from 34,809 units due to fewer new projects in the market and the lag effect in the revival of the end-user-driven demand," PropEquity said.

The demand is expected to pick up from the current quarter, it added.

New home launches dipped 83 per cent during July-September period to 4,313 units from 24,900 units in the previous quarter as developers were focusing on compliances with RERA and implementation of GST.

"This year the festive season has begun early and now we are witnessing the green shoots of recovery in the real estate sector specifically mid and affordable housing," said Samir Jasuja, founder and CEO, PropEquity said.

There is a stable demand for ready-to-move-in & resale properties, he added.

With fall of new launches, the unsold inventory dipped by 4 per cent to 4,46,730 units from 4,65,116 units during the period under review.

"We expect this festive season to do better than last year as developers are now offering a lot of freebies and discounts to clear their earlier stock as well as selectively launching new projects. There is a lot of unsold inventory in the market which is nearing completion," Jasuja said.