Housing sales up 8% in Q1 across eight cities

Housing sales rose 8 per cent annually during the April-June period to 80,250 units across eight major cities, mainly on increased demand in Mumbai and Pune, according to PropTiger.

Sales stood at 74,320 units in the year-ago period across primary (fresh sales)  residential markets of the top eight cities.

The housing brokerage firm on Wednesday released its Real Insight Residential – April-June 2023 report, stating that housing sales rose in three cities Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad but declined in other five major cities -- Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.

"India's top eight residential markets continue on a growth path.

"The RBI's decision to pause the hike in the key lending rate helped in sustaining strong positive sentiments for buying residential properties," Vikas Wadhawan, group CFO of REA India, said.

PropTiger, Housing.com and Makaan.com platforms are owned by REA India, which is part of Australian firm REA, and News Corp.

"The driving factors behind the uptick in housing sales over the last two years are pent-up demand from the COVID-affected period, growing appetite for home ownership, revival in the economy post-pandemic, and the evolving need for more spacious homes," he said.

As per the data, housing sales in Ahmedabad increased 17 per cent to  8,450 units during the April-June period to 7,240 units in the year-ago period.

Bengaluru saw a 19 per cent decline in sales to 6,790 units from 8,350 units while Chennai witnessed a 5 per cent fall to 3,050 units from 3,210 units.

Housing sales in Delhi NCR fell 28 per cent to 3,230 units from 4,510 units.

Hyderabad too witnessed a 3 per cent drop in demand to 7,680 units from 7,910 units.

Housing sales in Kolkata decreased 40 per cent to 1,940 units from 3,220 units.

Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) saw a 16 per cent increase in sales to 30,260 units during April-June period from 26,160 units in the year-ago period.

In Pune, sales increased 37 per cent during April-June to 18,850 units from 13,720 units in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Delhi-NCR market includes Gurugram, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad while MMR includes Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane.

REA India head of research Ankita Sood noted that MMR and Pune  contributed 61 per cent to total housing sales across 8 cities.

Demand in localities such as Thane West and Dombivali in Mumbai and Charholi Budruk and Hadapsar in Pune have been high, she said.

In terms of new housing supply, PropTiger reported that launches increased 11 per cent to 113,770 units during the April-June from 102,140 units in the corresponding period of the previous year.