Home sales in Q3 rise by 2.5 times, launches surge by 4.5 times: Knight Frank India

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 8 : Home sales volume across eight major cities in India jumped by 2.5 times to 33,403 units during July to September (Q3) compared to 9,632 in the previous quarter, Knight Frank India said on Thursday.
New residential unit launches increased by 4.5 times to 31,106 units compared to 5,584 units in Q2, it said. Besides, weighted average prices registered a year-on-year decline of three to seven per cent in six of the eight markets.
Hyderabad and Bengaluru were the only markets that witnessed a price increment of four and three per cent respectively as developers in these pre-dominantly end-user markets sustained pricing power in a favourable demand-supply scenario.
Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said developers have been focusing on liquidating inventory and homebuyers inclined to purchase ready assets has translated into reduced unsold inventory levels in this quarter.
For markets such as Mumbai and Pune, the additional push by the state government in the form of reduced stamp duty has helped in demand generation and revenue creation for the state government. Going forward, the festival season will be crucial for developers.
"This may prove to be an opportune time for end-users with the adequate financial stability to make their investments. The near-term outlook on sales continues to depend on the speed and trajectory of recovery in the economy in months ahead," said Baijal.
On the other hand, gross office leasing across these cities witnessed a strong recovery, registering 80 per cent growth to 0.44 million square metres in Q3.
Chennai, National Capital Region (NCR) and Mumbai recorded higher recovery with transactions reaching the level of 57 per cent, 43 per cent and 42 per cent respectively of the quarterly average of 2019.
New completions also improved to 29 per cent of the 2019 quarterly average. In terms of new completions in Q3, Ahmedabad was the only market to report higher new office completions with 125 per cent of quarterly average levels of 2019.
In terms of rental values, the recovery in office transactions and new completions helped rental values remain stable in Bengaluru (4 per cent) followed by Hyderabad (2 per cent), Chennai (0.5 per cent), and Pune with zero per cent year-on-year growth.
Rajani Sinha, Chief Economist and National Director for Research at Knight Frank India, said while work from home as a concept has proved to be an effective business continuity measure, occupiers are expected to look at office space usage more strategically.
"This will lead to further innovation in effect to include aspects like social-distancing, health benefits and sustainability as well as preparedness for future contingencies. We expect the momentum of the transaction to accelerate in the near future."