 "India recorded all-time high sales of homes between July and Sep: Anarock")
Home sales in the top seven cities of India reached an all-time high of 120,280 units between July and September, according to real estate consultancy Anarock. This is remarkable as the monsoon quarter usually records slower market momentum. Compared to 88,230 units sold during the same months in 2022, sales this year were 36 per cent higher.
The demand was nearly 5 per cent higher than the 115,100 units sold in the previous quarter (April-June). It was an all-time high number until this quarter.
The rise in demand is also notable given that the average home prices in the top seven cities saw double-digit growth of 11 per cent compared to the same quarter last year.
The highest demand came from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), which saw sales of 38,500 units. This is 46 per cent higher than the 26,400 units in 2022. MMR was followed by 22,885 units in Pune and 16,395 in Bengaluru. Pune recorded a 63 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in sales, while the rise in demand was 29 per cent in Bengaluru.
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"Cumulatively, the two western cities accounted for 51 per cent of total sales seen across the top seven cities in the quarter. In terms of growth, MMR saw a 46 per cent annual rise in housing sales, while Pune saw a massive 63 per cent yearly jump," said Anuj Puri, chairman of Anarock Group.
According to the consultancy, the continued healthy sales momentum can be partially attributed to the repo rate pause maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). "This has kept home loan interest rates stable, maintaining high housing purchase sentiment," it said.
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The RBI had pressed the pause button on repo rate hikes in April this year after raising it by 250 basis points cumulatively since May 2022.
The highest average home price rise was noted in Hyderabad at 18 per cent.
Alongside high demand, the supply was also robust during the quarter. The top seven cities saw 116,220 new units launched in the quarter, against 93,490 units in the same quarter last year—an increase of 24 per cent. On a quarterly basis, there was a 13 per cent jump from 102,610 units launched between April and June.
In terms of budget segments, the mid-range segment (priced between Rs 40–80 lakh) continued to dominate supply with a market share of 28 per cent. The luxury segment (priced over Rs 1.5 crore) and premium segment (Rs 80 lakh–Rs 1.5 crore) were close behind with a 27 per cent share each.
Despite increased new supply, existing housing inventory saw a 3 per cent YoY decline from 630,000 units by the quarter last year to 610,000 this year.
"Considering the overall current economic scenario, the momentum in housing sales and new launches across the top seven cities is expected to continue in the October-December quarter," Puri said.
"Many of the large and branded developers have a healthy pipeline of new project launches in the upcoming festive quarter across the top seven cities. With homebuyer demand remaining firmly skewed towards projects by branded developers, these players may see record sales yet again."