JLL says housing sales down 1 pc in Jul-Sep across 7 top cities; Anarock reports 18 pc fall

Housing supply and demand fell by 4 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, in the July-September period across seven major cities, according to property consultant JLL India.

Housing sales fell to 36,826 units from 37,324 units, while new launches declined to 37,544 units from 39,133 units across seven cities -- Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata, it said.

On Monday, real estate services firm Anarock said that housing sales declined by 18 per cent to 55,080 units during July-September period across these seven cities.

During January-September 2019, housing sales rose 14 per cent to 1,15,073 units from 1,01,283 units in the corresponding period of the previous year. New launches fell by 9 per cent to 110,593 units from 121,426 units, it said.

Unsold inventories stood at 4,46,117 units, slightly lower than 4,44,673 units at the end of June quarter.

"The revival seen in housing sales in 2018 has been maintained during 2019 as well. Developers have been focusing on the timely delivery of already launched projects and have been trying to clear their unsold inventory," JLL India CEO & Country Head Ramesh Nair said.

Since the beginning of the year, he said, several measures, including a cumulative 110 basis points rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India, have been announced to help the sector revive and grow.

"While banks are yet to fully transmit the rate cuts by a corresponding reduction in lending rates, this has strengthened consumer sentiment. We hope that developers will be able to register good sales during the festive season," Nair said.

Buyers would continue to be inclined towards 'nearing completion' and 'ready to move in' properties in the backdrop of challenges on timely deliveries of projects," said Siva Krishnan, MD - Residential Services, Developer Solutions and Strategic Consulting, JLL India.

On office market, JLL India said that nearly 11 million sq ft of Grade A office space was absorbed during the third quarter (July-September).

Total net absorption went up by 40 per cent to about 33 million sq ft in the first nine months of the year.

"To put things into perspective, 2017 and 2018 witnessed net absorption of 28.7 million sq ft and 33.2 million sq ft, respectively, in the entire year. With the current pace, the net absorption is likely to surpass the historical benchmarks well beyond 40 million sq ft by the end of the year," the consultant said.