Housing sales increases 44% in Jan-Mar 2021 across 8 cities: Report

Sales of residential properties across eight major cities grew 44 per cent in the January-March period this year to nearly 72,000 units as demand recovered, according to Knight Frank India.

Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune performed well on the back of the Maharashtra government's decision to reduce stamp duty.

"71,963 units were sold during Q1 2021, 44 per cent more than in Q1 2020. This healthy growth in sales also encouraged developers to launch new projects which are reflected in the 76,006 units launched during the quarter, substantial growth of 38 per cent year-on-year," Knight Frank India said in a statement.

As per the data of sales bookings in primary residential markets of eight major cities, housing sales in Mumbai rose 49 per cent year-on-year to 23,752 units in January-March 2021.

Pune saw a 75 per cent rise in sales to 13,653 units.

In south India, housing sales in Bengaluru went up 18 per cent to 10,219 units, while sales in Hyderabad rose sharply by 81 per cent to 6,909 units. Chennai witnessed 36 per cent growth to 4,058 units.

In the Delhi-NCR market, sales were up 24 per cent at 6,731 units.

Housing demand in Kolkata increased by 22 per cent to 3,596 units during January-March 2021, while Ahmedabad saw a 34 per cent rise in sales to 3,045 units.

Knight Frank India Chairman & Managing Director Shishir Baijal said, "Q1 2021 saw a significant rise in sales across the key markets, led by Mumbai and Pune the two markets that received substantial backing from the state government in the form of reduced stamp duty".

Other cities also recorded a rise in sales of homes due to a shift in attitude in homebuyers that has now started to prefer ownership, he added.

"That, coupled with home loan interest rates at multi-decade lows of sub 7 per cent, a substantial correction in apartment prices, as well as an increase in household savings, seems to have convinced homebuyers that this was an opportune time to purchase their properties," Baijal said.

However, he said the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the country has to be factored in for the future.

"We are yet to understand the complete impact of the 'second wave' on the economic activities and resulting wealth creation," Baijal said.

He hoped that the governments would take note of the possible challenges and address them to ensure India's economic growth is minimally impacted.