Sales of luxury flats, priced above Rs 1.5 crore, stood at 25,680 units across seven major cities during January-June 2022 and have surpassed sales in each of the last three years, according to Anarock. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) contributed more than 50 per cent of the total luxury housing sales in the first half of this year.
Property consultant Anarock said the luxury housing segment has performed "remarkably well" this year. As per the data, sales of luxury homes were 25,680 units during January-June 2022, which is higher than 21,700 luxury flats sold in the entire 2021 calendar year across seven major cities --Delhi-NCR, MMR, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabd, Chennai and Kolkata. In full 2020, sales of luxury apartments fell to 8,470 units from 17,740 units in 2019 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"There are four-five reasons for sharp rise in sales of luxury homes. First, there have been completion of many luxury residential projects this year.
The demand for ready-to-move in units was higher as customers wanted to shift immediately," Ananrock Chairman Anuj Puri told PTI. Further, he said the high net worth individuals (HNIs) have made money during the pandemic from stock market which they are investing in real estate now.
"Joint families have realised during the pandemic the need for larger spaces and that too immediately. This is also one of the major demand drivers," Puri said. The consultant also noted that housing prices have risen after the second wave of the pandemic. "Prices are still at reasonable level.
Prospective buyers feel that rates may go up further, so they are buying now".
Lastly, NRIs (non-resident Indians) have also been snapping up luxury homes in India because of the favourable exchange rate," he added. Anarock data suggests that share of luxury homes in the overall housing sales of 1.84 lakh units across the seven cities rose to 14 per cent during the first six months of 2022. If compared with the pre-pandemic year of 2019, the share of luxury homes in the total sales was just 7 per cent.
Mukesh Singh, Director – Sales, Kalpataru Ltd, said: "With the onset of the pandemic, buyers are looking for homes that provide luxury amenities.
Consumers are looking to buy bigger and luxurious homes from renowned developers who have a robust track record of executing projects on time."
The data showed that luxury homes sales in Delhi-NCR stood at 4,160 units in January-June this year. Sales were 1,680 units in 2019, 700 units in 2020 and 2,520 units in 2021 in Delhi-NCR.
The MMR saw sales of 13,670 units in the first six months of 2022. The city witnessed sales of 10,210 units in 2019, 5,840 units in 2020 and 13,720 units in 2021. In Bengaluru, sales of luxury units were 2,430 units during January-June period this year. Sales were 3,030 units in 2019, 930 units in 2020 and 1,550 units in 2021.
Sales of luxury homes in Pune stood at 1,460 units in the first six months of this calendar year. The demand in Pune was 500 units in 2019, 170 units in 2020 and 880 units in 2021. In Hyderabad, 2,420 luxury homes were sold in January-June 2022. Sales were 1,660 units in 2019, 620 units in 2020 and 1,880 units in 2021.
Sales of luxury residential properties in Chennai stood at 920 units in the first six months of this year. The city saw sales of 300 luxury homes in 2019, 120 units in 2020 and 660 units in 2021. In Kolkata, 630 units were sold in luxury residential segment during January-June 2022. As many as 390 luxury units were sold in 2019, 90 units in 2020 and 490 units in 2021.
With rise in share of luxury housing segment in the overall sales, Anarock data showed that the share of affordable housing (units priced below Rs 40 lakh) dipped to 31 per cent in the first six months of 2022 from 38 per cent in full 2019. Post-pandemic, affordable housing was significantly impacted because the buyers in this category took the biggest economic hit.
As per the Anarock data, the total housing sales (across all categories -- affordable, mid-income and luxury) across these seven cities stood at 3,18,399 units in 2013; 3,42,983 in 2014; 3,08,250 in 2015; 2,39,260 in 2016; 2,11,143 in 2017; 2,48,311 in 2018; 2,61,358 in 2019; 1,38,344 in 2020; 2,36,516 in 2021. In the first six months of 2022 , the total sales were 1,84,475 units.
Anarock said housing sales in 2022 are likely to surpass the pre-pandemic level. The unsold housing stocks have fallen to around 6 lakh units from peak of nearly 9 lakh units across these seven cities on better demand and controlled supply. The data includes all residential projects (apartments, villas, row-houses, villament and independent floors), but excludes plotted development projects.
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