New launches rebound 79 pc of pre-COVID-19

Despite the spiraling COVID-19 pressure across the country, the housing sector made a decisive comeback in Q3 2020 with sales and new launches rebounding to 65 percent and 79 percent of the pre-COVID-19 levels (Q1 2020) respectively.

The top 7 cities witnessed housing sales of approx. 29,520 units in Q3 2020 as against 45,200 units in the pre-COVID-19 quarter of Q1 2020. Sales were significantly higher than the preceding quarter when the coronavirus pandemic had brought sales down to just 12,730 units.

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants says, “MMR, Bengaluru, NCR and Pune altogether accounted for 84 pc sales in the July-Sept quarter. MMR saw maximum sales of 9,200 units, followed by Bengaluru with 5,400 units, NCR with 5,200 units, and Pune with 4,850 units.”

“In terms of new launches, the top 7 cities witnessed a supply of approx. 32,530 units in Q3 2020 as against 41,220 units in Q1 2020 – reaching over 79 pc of the pre-COVID-19 quarter levels. Cities like Hyderabad, Kolkata, and NCR saw a new supply increase during the quarter as against the first quarter of 2020. Most new launches in the quarter happened virtually.”

Interestingly, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and NCR saw their new supply increase by 45 pc, 24 pc, and 10 pc respectively during the period. The affordable and mid segments (priced up to Rs 80 lakh) comprised over 72 pc share (approx. 23,290 units) of the total new supply between July-Sept.

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Unsold inventory in the top cities shrunk by approx. 3 percent on a yearly basis – from 6.56 lakh units back in Q3 2019 to 6.36 lakh units in Q3 2020. It reduced by 1 pc between Q1 2020 and Q3 2020.

Thus, despite the inexorable rise of COVID-19 cases, periodic local lockdowns across states, and the traditionally inauspicious ‘shradh’ period, residential sales and new launches saw reasonable momentum in Q3 2020. On a q-o-q basis, the jump has been massive for both new launches and sales; the April-June quarter was more of an outlier with most activity at a standstill.

Currently, reduced stamp duty charges in Maharashtra coupled with developers’ incentives and rock-bottom home loan interest rates are a major attraction for homebuyers. This indicates that the upcoming festive season quarter (Oct-Dec) may see housing sales recover to almost the pre-COVID-19 levels.

Q3 2020 New Launch Overview: 

The top 7 cities recorded new launches of approx. 32,530 units in Q3 2020 as opposed to 41,220 units in the pre-COVID-19 quarter of Q1 2020 – reaching nearly 79 pc of the pre-COVID-19 quarter. However, there is a massive jump over the previous quarter of Q2 2020 that saw merely 1,390 units being launched.

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Key cities contributing to Q3 2020 new unit launches included MMR, NCR, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, altogether accounting for 78 pc addition.

• MMR saw approx. 7,890 units launched in Q3 2020 as against 10,490 units in Q1 2020 – reaching nearly 75 pc of the pre-COVID-19 quarter. Over 53 pc of the new supply in this quarter was added in the sub INR 80 lakh budget segment, while 28% new supply was added between Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1.5-crore budget segment.
• NCR added approx. 6,810 units in Q3 2020 against 6,190 units in Q1 2020 – an increase of 10 pc. Over 76 pc of the new supply was added in the sub Rs 80 lakh budget segment.
• Bengaluru added a new supply of approx. 5,840 units in Q3 2020 as compared to 8,600 units in Q1 2020 – thus touching 68 pc of the pre-pandemic quarter.
• Hyderabad added approx. 4,900 units in Q3 2020, a significant increase of 45 pc over Q1 2020. Approx. 88 pc new supply was added in sub INR 80 lakh price bracket.
• Pune new launches rebounded to 54 pc of the pre-COVID-19 quarter with approx. 4,200 units being launched in Q3 2020.
• Chennai added approx. 1,560 units in Q3 2020 as against 3,680 units in Q1 2020 – reaching back at 42 pc of the pre-pandemic quarter.
• Kolkata added approx. 1,350 units in Q3 2020 as against 1,090 units, an increase of 24% over Q1 2020.

Q3 2020 Overall Sales Overview:

Approx. 29,520 units were sold in Q3 2020 – rebounding back to 65 pc of the pre-COVID-19 quarter (Q1 2020).  NCR, MMR, Bengaluru, and Pune together accounted for 84 pc of the sales in the quarter. Interestingly, in comparison to the preceding quarter, sales have increased by over 132 pc in the top cities.

• MMR saw nearly 9,200 units sold in Q3 2020 as against 13,910 units in Q1 2020 – sales effectively come back to 66 pc of the pre-pandemic quarter.
• Bengaluru recorded approx. 5,400 units sold in Q3 2020 against 8,630 units in Q1 2020 – regaining 63 pc of business.
• NCR witnessed sales of 5,200 units in Q3 2020 against 8,150 units in in Q1 2020 – 64 pc of the Q1 2020 levels.
• Pune saw 4,850 units sold in Q3 2020 as against 7,200 units in Q1 2020 – back at 67 pc of pre-pandemic levels.
• Hyderabad saw 1,650 units sold in Q3 2020 as compared to 2,680 units in Q1 2020 – sales are back at 62 pc of Q1 2020 levels.
• Kolkata saw housing sales of 1,620 units in Q3 2020 and 2,440 units in Q1 2020 quarter – recovering to 66 pc of Q1 2020 levels
• Chennai saw approx. 1,600 units sold in Chennai in Q3 2020 against 2,190 units in Q1 2020, rebounding to 73 pc of Q1 2020 levels

Source: ANAROCK Research

Overall unsold inventory till Q3 2020

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Unsold inventory decreased by approx. 1 percent – from 6.44 lakh units in Q1 2020 to 6.36 lakh units by Q3 2020 and 3 percent on yearly basis – it was 6.56 lakh units in Q3 2019. On yearly basis, Bengaluru saw the maximum reduction of 3 percent in its unsold stock – from nearly 62,800 units in Q3 2019 to approx. 60,820 units in Q3 2020.

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