Housing sales in metros witnessed 15 pc dip in April-June quarter: Realty consultant

New Delhi [India], June 30 (ANI): In a major fallout of increased property prices and lending rate hikes by the RBI and subsequently by several domestic banks, the top 7 cities in India saw a 15 per cent moderation in housing sales during the second quarter of the current calendar year 2022 -- April to June, said real estate consultant Anarock.
It declined from 99,550 units in Q1 2022 to approximately 84,930 units in Q2 2022, the latest ANAROCK Research data showed.
Inflationary concerns have led to aggressive monetary policy tightening by the Reserve Bank of India.
In India, retail inflation has been over the RBI's upper tolerance band of 6 per cent for the fifth consecutive month in a row in May, while the central bank projects that it would continue to remain high till the third quarter of the current financial year 2022-23, before moderating. Besides, domestic wholesale inflation has been in double-digit for over a year now.
Mumbai region recorded the highest sales of approx. 25,785 units in Q2 2022, followed by Delhi NCR at 15,340 units.
During the mentioned quarter, property developers restricted new supplies in the markets to approximately 82,150 units in Q2 2022 against 89,150 units in Q1 2022 -- an 8 per cent decline.
Mumbai and Pune were the only markets to see new launches increase by 26 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, it said. The remaining top 5 cities - Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kolkata -- witnessed reduced new launches.
Accordingly, Delhi NCR saw a massive 56 per cent drop in new supply during the quarter, the consultant said.
"Inflationary pressures on input costs compelled developers to increase property prices in the past few months, and RBI unleashed two rate hikes that swelled up home loan interest rates. These two factors combined to hike the overall property acquisition cost for homebuyers, leading to a dip in housing sales. The fact that after two years, there was no new Covid-19 wave to disrupt family travel plans during the school vacation months (April to June) could also have impacted sales," Anuj Puri, Chairman - ANAROCK Group, said.
"As for the declining new launches, developers would have held back fresh supply while they sought clarity on the unfolding market sentiments amid increased housing purchase costs," says Puri, adding that given that the sector saw two back-to-back quarters of robust housing sales and new launches, a dip was to be expected. (ANI)