Housing inventory has once again started piling up at the eight Indian metropolises, as the sales have started to take a hit.
An analysis by Liases Foras, a research and rating firm, shows that there was a slight decrease in sales during the quarter ending September 2022. At the eight metropolitan areas of Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, National Capital Region, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru, an average of 3% fall was witnessed.
"Only Hyderabad saw significant sales improvement, while Ahmedabad had the highest drop in sales compared to other cities Quarter-on-Quarter," mentions the research report.
The inventory pile-up has happened in the ticket sizes of affordable category and mid-segment apartments. For example, Quarter-on-Quarter, there has been an increase of nine months in homes priced below less than Rs 30 lakh. Likewise, the price range of Rs 30-50 lakh witnessed an add-on of three months and four months for flats in Rs 50 lakh – 1 crore. The increase in the inventory levels is partially also due to the majority of the new launches happening in the Rs 50 lakh- 1 crore bracket.
Even after over a year of lockdown-related restrictions getting lifted, luxury apartments continue to be in demand. An indicator of reduced disposable income with the middle class and the contrary with those drawing higher pay packages.
In October this year, lesser property or sales deeds were registered in Mumbai (excluding the rest of Mumbai Metropolitan Region) as well. As per the data from the government’s revenue department, this October about 3% fewer transactions related to sales happened at 8,276 registrations as compared to October 2021.
Though the developers are optimistic about the sales getting boosted, the reality is otherwise with the economic slowdown impacting sales. Resultant builders coming up with various offers. Last week, global property consultant Knight Frank raised red flags on the housing market’s future sentiments as it expects to shrink further during the ongoing quarter of October – December 2022.
