Real Estate News: A report released on Thursday indicates that home sales in India’s top seven cities have decreased. The market is stabilizing, with an 11% decline noted in the third quarter of the calendar year 2024. According to data from property consulting firm Anarock, sales dropped from 120,000 homes in the third quarter of last year to 107,000 this year.
Anarock attributes this decrease to high prices and the monsoon season. Additionally, the demand has fallen as many Indians prefer not to purchase homes during the Shraddh period. Overall, the housing market is stabilizing after reaching new heights in the first quarter. The top seven cities include the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, and Pune. In the third quarter of this year, 93,750 homes were launched, down 19% from 116,220 homes launched during the same period last year.
Moreover, Anarock reports that rising input costs and the higher sales in the first quarter have contributed to the situation, alongside a significant increase in home prices over the past one to two years. Many buyers are now watching the situation closely.
According to Anarock Research, average residential prices in the top seven cities have risen by 23% year-on-year in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. When comparing data trends, the average price has increased by 37% from the third quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2024, putting pressure on many buyers.
The highest share of new launches is in luxury homes, with properties priced over ₹1.5 crore accounting for 33% of the new offerings. In contrast, affordable homes represent only about 13% of new launches. The decline in sales is also partly due to investors who bought homes a few years ago now feeling relief as prices have reached high levels. Overall, these factors contributed to the lower sales in the third quarter.
In terms of cities, Kolkata saw the most significant drop in home consumption, down 25% compared to last year. Pune experienced a substantial 49% decline in supply. However, Anuj Puri of Anarock Group noted, “The key point is that sales have outpaced offerings, indicating a strong demand-supply equation.”
On the other hand, research from Colliers indicates a 31% increase in demand for Grade A office space, with 1.73 crore square feet leased in the top six Indian cities during the same period. Supply also rose by 33%, reaching 1.44 crore square feet. Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Pune are the top six cities.
Overall, these cities have recorded a consumption of 4.67 crore square feet of office space this year, a 23% increase compared to last year. Arpit Mehrotra, Managing Director (Office Services, India) at Colliers, stated, “In Bengaluru, large deals accounted for 81% of the leases, with Pune following at 71%. The deals were primarily from the technology and BFSI sectors.”
Research indicates that during the quarter, the technology sector accounted for nearly a quarter of total office space demand, followed by the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sectors and flexible space operators.
