Housing sales fall 9% in December quarter amid economic slowdown

Sales and new launches fell further on a low base

The plight of real estate developer and suppliers is far from the end. Despite government’s recent measures to revive the sector by injecting liquidity into the system and easing norms for unfinished projects, both sale and new launches plunged further in October-December quarter.

Data from PropEquity show, while sales fell 9 per cent year on year to 60,453 units, new launches declined 10 per cent to 44,459 units. The fall is staggering, if compared to the number for corresponding quarters a few years ago, as the market has witnessed steady decline in both sales and new launches in the past four years.

Total sales in 2019 declined two per cent to 297,657 units, while new launches fell 9 per cent to 237,891 units.

 

 

During the December quarter, sales plunged 16 per cent each in Hyderabad and Thane, followed by Chennai (-14 per cent), Bangaluru and Mumbai (-12 per cent each). Absorption jumped by a 26 per cent in Kolkata and a fifth in Noida and Gurugram.

However, new launches declined the most in Thane (-45 per cent) and in Gurugram (-44 per cent), while Kolkata (218 per cent) and Noida (76 per cent) witnessed growth.

Samir Jasuja, founder and managing director at PropEquity said, they expect the market to recover in 2020 and announcement of positive measures in the forthcoming budget.