Prices of new homes launched in Gurugram up 6.5 pc: ANAROCK

The average price for new homes launched at Gurugram during January-May 2018 increased by 6.5 per cent over a year-ago period on improved demand from end-users, according to property consultant ANAROCK.

As per its research, the weighted average price for housing properties launched between January and May in 2018 stood at Rs 4,580 per sq ft as against Rs 4,300 a sq ft in corresponding period of the last year.

"The millennium city of Gurugram has a very prominent place on India's residential real estate map and is considered a bellwether of the state of the market for NCR. We are seeing an uptick in pricing for newly-launched housing projects in Gurugram, in line with the returning end-user demand as a result of improving market transparency," ANAROCK Vice Chairman Santhosh Kumar said.

The launches of new homes at Gurugram fell to 4,100 units in January-March 2018 from 5,600 units in the same period last year because builders are focusing on completing their previously launched projects.

However, Kumar said the supply of luxury and ultra-luxury flats, which was affected due to demand slowdown and the government's focus on affordable homes, has seen a major uptick this year on the back of renewed buyer confidence.

Out of total new flats launched, around 60 per cent were in luxury and ultra-luxury segments and nearly 37 per cent consisted of units in the affordable category which is less than Rs 40 lakh.

"In Q1 2018, out of the total unsold housing stock in NCR (approximately 2,00,400 units), nearly 26 per cent were unsold in Gurugram. The burden of unsold housing in entire NCR is quite evidently reducing, although absorption in Gurugram was marginally faster last year," Kumar said.

On the commercial real estate market of Gurugram, Kumar said the city saw significant demand from IT-BPM as well as manufacturing and engineering companies.

During January-March 2018, there were 68 million sq ft of good quality office stock in Gurugram's CBD (central business district) and other areas.

While the CBD has a limited vacancy of 2-3 per cent, there is a vacancy rate of 35-37 per cent in other areas. The CBD areas of Gurugram command rentals of Rs 118-122 per sq ft a month, which is lower than CBDs of many other cities.

However, in other areas of Gurugram, one can lease an office property at Rs 65-70 per sq ft a month.

"With improving business conditions and rising ease of doing business, global companies are now flocking back to India and Gurugram is a priority destination for many of them. While lease rentals in the CBD and non-CBD areas have not changed significantly over the last one year, the vacancies have dropped marginally largely on the back of rising demand," Kumar said.