Hyderabad sees rise in housing sales

​Hyderabad: Hyderabad witnessed only two per cent rise in housing absorption in Q3 (July-Sept) 2018, with 4,850 units. The third quarter of the year was a lull period due to the 15-day shraddh period, considered inauspicious for buying property. However, builders have kept new projects on hold for the ensuing festive season.

According to Real Estate Consumer Outlook survey conducted by Anarock property consultants, Hyderabad added 4,150 units, a quarterly decline of 25 per cent and sold merely 4,850 units, a mere increase of two per cent. The reason being developers holding on to new projects in anticipation of the launch of the much-awaited RERA web portal in TS, which requires online registrations.

However, the real estate market across the other top six cities (NCR, MMR, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata) in Q3 2018 stayed subdued. The quarter saw a meagre three per cent increase in the overall fresh housing supply as against the preceding quarter. The seven cities including Hyderabad saw 52,150 new units launched in Q3 2018, a notable increase over 50,600 units in Q2 2018. The cities which contributed most to new unit additions in Q3 2018 include MMR (Mumbai), Pune, Bengaluru, and Chennai. 

These new launches were largely dominated by the lower-budget segment (below Rs 40 lakh) with nearly 42 per cent of the total new supply. While 33 per cent launches were in the mid segment (Rs 40-80 lakh), the remaining 25 per cent in the luxury and ultra-luxury segments.

Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Property Consultants, said, “Q3 2018 saw only a minimal increase in both new launches and absorption over the previous quarter. Nearly 61 per cent prospective buyers are looking to buy their property within the next one year. Given this, the festive season may bring a boost to the real estate sector this year.” In terms of purchases, there was an increase of 9 per cent during the Q3 as compared to Q2 2018, across the top seven cities of India. 

Nearly 67,175 units were sold in Q3 2018 with NCR, MMR, Bengaluru and Pune together accounting for 82 per cent of the overall sales. With only a slight improvement in sales and new launches, the overall unsold inventory declined by two per cent (from 7.02 lakh units in Q2 2018 to 6.87 lakh units in Q3 2018). The decline over Q3 2017 is eight per cent (from 7.44 lakh units). 

However, low budget housing saw a 65 per cent jump in new supply in the third quarter as compared to last year. It accounted for nearly 44 per cent of Q3’s overall supply. “There has been a 51 per cent jump in new housing supply against Q3 2017. Purchases also rose by 15 per cent this quarter as against Q3 2017. Lower-budget range housing continues to keep the momentum going,” Puri added.

In addition, the residential property rates across the top cities remained stagnant in Q3 2018 compared to the previous quarter. However, Kolkata was an exception, as property rates declined by around 1 per cent.