Housing sales in the July-September period surged by more than two-fold to 62,800 units across seven major cities, driven by increased demand fueled by low mortgage rates and hiring in the IT/ITeS sector, according to property consultant Anarock. In the same period a year ago, residential property sales were at 29,520 units, and in the previous quarter, they stood at 24,560 units. The cities tracked by Anarock include Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune.
Housing prices across these seven cities saw a 3% appreciation to Rs 5,760 per square feet in Q3 of the 2021 calendar year, up from Rs 5,600 per square feet in Q3 2020.
Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri attributed the surge in housing sales to improved job security, robust hiring in the IT/ITeS and financial sectors, record-low home loan interest rates, and a growing sentiment towards homeownership. He noted that the continued work-from-home (WFH) culture has influenced residential sentiment, impacting overall housing demand and unit sizes.
The rapid vaccination drive has contributed to an increase in site visits by prospective customers. Data reveals that housing sales in Delhi-NCR are estimated to have risen by 97% to 10,220 units in July-September 2021 from 5,200 units in the year-ago period. The MMR residential market witnessed a more than two-fold jump in sales to 20,965 units compared to 9,200 units in the same period last year. Other cities, including Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kolkata, also experienced significant increases in housing sales during the period.
On the supply side, the top seven cities saw new launches of 64,560 units during the third quarter of this calendar year, marking a 98% increase from 32,530 units in Q3 2020. Anarock had earlier projected a 30% year-on-year increase in housing sales to 1,79,527 units across these seven cities in 2021. In the pre-COVID year of 2019, housing sales stood at 2,61,358 units across the same cities.