18,331 units sold in last quarter of 2020, according to analysis by brokerage firm PropTiger.com
After facing severe setbacks in the past quarters, housing sales and unveiling of new projects in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) showed a marked improvement in the last quarter of 2020, primarily due to various measures of the State government and relief from the Reserve Bank of India.
“The government of Maharashtra has been proactive in offering policy support to overcome the challenges thrown in the way of the sector due to the pandemic. The stamp duty reduction has been a key reason why sales have improved in this highly expensive property market amid strict travel restrictions,” Mani Rangarajan, Group COO, Housing.com, Makaan.com and PropTiger.com said. “The zero stamp duty and GST waivers offered as part of the festive deals by builders, were another reason that led to an improvement in sales numbers over the previous quarters,” he added.
According to the quarterly analysis of India’s eight prime residential markets by brokerage firm PropTiger.com, 18,331 housing units were sold in the MMR in the October-December period of 2020, an rise of 148% compared to the July-September quarter. However, sales are still down by 32% when compared to the sales registered in the same quarter in 2019.
Even though the yearly numbers might not seem impressive, Mumbai claimed a 30% share in the overall home sales during the quarter. Thane West, Dombivli and Panvel localities witnessed the highest sales activity in the MMR during the quarter, while 1BHK homes remained the most popular configuration, as per the analysis.
To provide an impetus to the sector, the Maharashtra government had lowered the stamp duty on property registrations for a limited period. This measure backed by record low interest rates and lucrative festive offers by real estate developers led to higher sales numbers in the aftermath of the pandemic.
During this quarter, unveiling of new projects saw a three-fold jump, with 10,070 units joining the new supply in the MMR when compared to the preceding quarter. However, an annual comparison shows a 48% decline in new supply when compared to the same quarter of 2019.
Localities of Bhiwandi, Dombivli and Panvel accounted for the majority of new projects in this quarter. Nearly 70% of units introduced were of 1BHK configuration. However, MMR remained the biggest contributor to national unsold inventory. Among all unsold houses, 37% are in the MMR.
“As on December 31, 2020, this market has an unsold stock consisting of 263,987 units. This is a decline of 12% when compared to the stock of 2019. The inventory overhang for this market has however increased to 58 months from 32 months in 2019, primarily because of the uncertainty caused by the pandemic,” the report said.
Annual price growth in this market remained flat with average prices of newly introduced projects remaining unchanged at ₹9,448 per square foot.
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