Nearly 35 per cent of housing units sold in 2021 across seven cities were in newly launched projects, driven by fresh supply from branded developers and a rise in investor demand, according to Anarock.
In its report released on Thursday, Anarock said 2.37 lakh units were sold across the top-seven cities in 2021 and out of that, 34 per cent were newly launched.
The remaining 66 per cent units sold in 2021 were in projects launched in the preceding years.
The seven cities tracked by the company are -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad.
In 2020, of 1.38 lakh units sold in the top-seven cities, 28 per cent were launched during the year.
During 2019, 2.61 lakh units were sold and out of that, 26 per cent were newly launched.
''Newly launched homes are back in demand after a prolonged period wherein the demand spotlight shone mainly on ready-to-move-in units,'' Anarock said.
While end-users continue to drive the housing market and ready or soon-to-be-completed homes are still in the highest demand, new launches are finding takers again.
Hyderabad accounted for the maximum absorption share of new units among the top-seven cities.
Of 25,410 units sold in 2021 in the city, about 55 per cent were launched in the same year.
The MMR saw the lowest absorption of newly-launched homes — of 76,400 units sold in 2021, just 26 per cent were launched during the year.
Commenting on the trend, Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri said, ''End-users with a preference for ready-to-move-in or almost-complete homes continue to rule the roost. However, the demand scale is shifting gradually.'' Among other things, the increased sales share of newly-launched homes heralds the revival of investor interest.
''This is significant — over the past 3-4 years, investors had more or less exited the residential real estate stage and were focusing on other asset classes,'' Puri said.
He also noted that well-capitalised branded developers have been ramping up their market share of new launches.
''Buyers are confident of such players' ability to complete their projects on time,'' Puri said.
(With inputs from PTI)
