Mumbai: Homebuyers seeking de-risked ready-to-move-in properties can leverage the COVID-19 period to their advantage. A research by property brokerage firm ANAROCK has revealed that out of the total unsold stock of over 6.44 lakh units in the top 7 cities (as on March 2020 end) nearly 12% or about 78,000 homes are ready-to-move-in. The total stock of unsold ready-to-move-in homes is worth about Rs 65,950 crore.
Of the total unsold ready stock, in highly COVID-19-impacted Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune together have around 35,200 units, which are collectively worth Rs 37,550 crore. This accounts for 57% of the total value of ready unsold homes across all top 7 cities.
Although construction activity is completely halted all across, first-time home buyers are at an unprecedented advantage to negotiate good deals on ready-to-move-in options and simultaneously benefit from all-time-low interest rates of 7.15% to 7.8%.
The COVID-19 lockdown has accelerated technology-led home buying in India, making it possible to inspect properties online as well as negotiate and finalise deals.
Virtual site visits are now a firm reality and a large chunk of the property selection and purchase process can now be done digitally. "The lockdown period has kickstarted rapid technology-led evolution on the Indian real estate market," says ANAROCK Property Consultants chairman Anuj Puri.
According to ANAROCK Research, MMR has the maximum ready stock of nearly 19,200 unsold homes worth nearly Rs 26,150 crore. However, this is just 9% of the total unsold inventory (of 2.13 lakh units) in the region. Pune has the second-highest ready unsold stock of nearly 16,000 units worth over Rs 11,400 crore.
This is close to 17% of the total unsold stock of 93,300 units available in the city. Further, NCR comes third with nearly 15,600 unsold ready homes worth Rs 10,720 crore. Bangalore currently has ready unsold stock of approx. 10,100 units worth Rs 7,150 crore.
Chennai has nearly 9,400 ready unsold units in the city worth nearly Rs 5,800 crore. Kolkata has ready unsold stock of nearly 5,300 units worth Rs 2,860 crore. Hyderabad has the least unsold ready stock of nearly 2,400 units worth Rs 1,870 crore. It is 10% of the total unsold stock of 24,900 units in the city.
