JLL says home sales up 40% in top cities, other analysts disagree

According to JLL, from the sales perspective, Hyderabad and Kolkata were the standout performers with growth rates of 277 % & 230 %

Home sales have gone up 40 per cent in the top seven cities in first nine months of this year on yearly basis, a report by property consultant JLL said on Friday. The report said new project launches had gone up 75 per cent during January-September 2018.

But rivals have shared lower growth numbers for sales and launches between January and September.

Anarock, promoted by former JLL country head Anuj Puri, said the absorption of homes in top seven cities went up by a mere 8 per cent. The new supply has gone up 18 per cent, Anarock said.

Pankaj Kapoor, managing director of real estate analytics and rating firm Liases Foras, also differed with JLL’s numbers. “There has been growth, but 40 per cent is way too high. I think there has been a growth of 20-25 per cent in sales,” Kapoor said.

According to JLL, from the sales perspective, Hyderabad and Kolkata were the standout performers with growth rates of 277 per cent and 230 per cent, respectively. “An important factor behind the high sales growth numbers was the low base effect on the back of relatively small size of the residential market in both these markets,” said Ramesh Nair, CEO and country head, JLL India.

Other cities that saw higher growth in sales were Chennai (77per cent), national capital region (53 per cent), Pune (19 per cent), and Bengaluru (12 per cent). In terms of launches, Kolkata was the highest at 325 per cent year-on-year growth followed by Chennai (289 per cent) and NCR (152 per cent). While Bengaluru and Hyderabad recorded growth rates of 101 per cent and 82 per cent, respectively, Pune had a mere 3 per cent growth. The residential market in Mumbai region recorded 22 per cent growth in the number of launches and 13 per cent rise in sales.

“While the implementation of goods and services tax (GST) and Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) led to some initial challenges for developers, most of the issues have been addressed and the industry as whole is aligned. Going by the data for sales and new launches in the January to September period, home buyers are no longer delaying their decisions on buying homes,” Nair said.

He said that with developers, consumers and other important stakeholders in the sector having accepted realities of doing business after GST and RERA, there is definitely an increase in confidence in the market amidst positive signs of recovery. “This, coupled with stable pricing, augurs well for the industry and demonstrates the return of buyers’ confidence in the market, which has prompted developers to launch new projects,” he said.

Nair said “it is definitely the start of a positive growth story in the mid to long-term for the residential sector” but they would wait and watch how this growth trend crystallises.