Home sales more than double in Q3CY21 on robust hiring, pay hike in IT/ITES

On account of robust hiring and pay rise in the IT/ITES segment, housing sales in top seven cities more than doubled on a yearly basis in the third quarter of the current calendar year, says a new study.

The third quarter of the calendar year saw housing sales of 62,800 units as against home sales of 29,520 in

Q3CY20, said a report released by Anarock Property Consultants on Wednesday.

Mumbai Metropolitan Region or MMR accounted for 33 per cent of the total sales, followed by NCR with a 16 per cent share, Anarock said.

Meanwhile, new launches in the top 7 cities rose by 98 per cent on  a yearly basis  – from about 32,530 units in Q3CY20 to about 64,560 units in Q3CY21. While MMR continued to see the highest number of new launches (of about 16,510 units) in the quarter, Hyderabad was close behind with a new supply infusion of about 14,690 units, it said.

The mid-segment (homes priced at Rs 40-80 lakh) and premium homes (priced between Rs 80 lakh - Rs 1.5 crore) continue to dominate new supply with 41 per cent and 25 per cent shares, respectively. The affordable housing segment (units priced at less than Rs 40 lakh) saw its supply share reduce to 24% in the quarter.

Average property prices saw a 3 per cent yearly increase across the top 7 cities - to Rs 5,760 per sq. ft. in Q3 2021 from Rs 5,600 per sq. ft. in Q3 2020. Bengaluru leads with a nearly 4 per cent annual rise – from Rs 4,975 per sq. ft. in Q3 2020 to about Rs 5,150 per sq. ft. in Q3 2021, it said.

"IT/ITeS continues to drive the bulk of housing demand in the top 7 cities," said Anuj Puri, chairman - Anarock. "In Q3 2021, significantly improved job security and robust hiring in the IT/ITeS and financial sectors piggybacked on record-low home loan rates and growing homeownership sentiment. The ongoing WFH culture continues to influence residential sentiment on two major fronts - overall housing demand and unit sizes. The fast-paced vaccination drive is an added sentiment booster, especially in terms of increased site visits," he said.

"With new launches increasing by 98 per cent and housing sales skyrocketing by 113 per cent, Q3 2021 stands in stark contrast to this period last year," said Puri. "MMR and NCR together accounted for nearly 50 per cent of the overall housing sales in the quarter,” he said.

In previous periods of unprecedented demand, housing prices invariably rose steeply. In the current pandemic period, they have remained more or less stable, and developers were actively sweetening the deals with added offers and discounts in this period, effectively keeping a lid on the overall cost of property acquisition. MMR distinguished itself with an impressive 8 per cent y-o-y reduction in its unsold stock. Unsold inventory in the region stood at 192,000 units as of Q3CY21 end. NCR saw a 3 per cent yearly decline, Anarock said.