Listed realtors report mixed bag Q3 as home sales moderate in top cities

Project approvals slow down but most companies expect to meet their annual guidance

Top listed real estate developers reported a mixed bag of results for the third quarter of the financial year (Q3 FY25), as home sales growth moderated in the top seven Indian cities.

 

“The performance of the top seven cities remained sluggish in Q3 FY25, with sales declining by 11 per cent and launches declining by 26 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y),” said Tushar Bharambe, assistant vice-president and sector head, corporate rating, ICRA.

 

Among the top five listed developers, DLF, Macrotech Developers, and Oberoi Realty reported that sales bookings had increased and Prestige Estates and Godrej Properties recorded a decline.

 

“Q3 FY25 has been slow in terms of sales volume for most of the listed developers. While Mumbai has largely remained flat, sales have seen a dip in Bengaluru, affected by slow receipt of approvals for projects,” said Vikas Anand, associate director, India Ratings & Research. “The national capital region (NCR) and Hyderabad have seen a slowdown in big-ticket size projects due to a slowdown in demand.”

 

DLF and Macrotech Developers’ sales bookings in Q3 FY25 increased 33.70 and 32.30 per cent Y-o-Y. DLF’s sales were helped by the launch of The Dahlias in DLF 5, a “uber-luxury” project in Gurgaon. As many as 173 units worth Rs 11,820 crore were sold in nine weeks in the project.

 

Macrotech’s growth was driven by “robust traction in high-value markets of South & Central Mumbai and Western suburbs accounting for about 50 per cent of the pre-sales mix,” according to analysts at Elara Capital.

 

Prestige Estates and Godrej Properties reported a decline in pre-sales, largely due to delays in approval for projects. Prestige’s pre-sales fell 43.42 per cent and Godrej’s 4.8 per cent, Y-o-Y.

 

Bengaluru-based Prestige had “a modest quarter, with no launches and limited handovers due to local bottlenecks regarding e-Khata,” said Irfan Razack, chairman and managing director of Prestige Group.  E-khata is the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s digital property certificate that maintains property details, aiming for ease in transactions.

 

Sobha, another Bengaluru-based developer, reported a decline of 29 per cent in its bookings amid approval delays.

 

The management of Brigade Enterprises has said that project approvals have become challenging in most cities, according to a report by Nuvama Professional Clients Group,. However, Brigade reported a 63.50 per cent increase in bookings on the back of a project launch in Hyderabad.

 

For Godrej, delays in the launch of two projects and a dip in sustenance sales (of residual inventory from existing projects) resulted in lower bookings.

 

Oberoi Realty was the top performer in Q3 FY25: Its pre-sales grew 143.8 per cent amid a strong response to its luxury project launch in Thane.

 

Lokesh Manik, senior equity research analyst at Vallum Capital Advisors, said the performance of real estate companies is broadly “divided into four areas: land acquisitions, new launches, construction period, and delivery.”

 

“A company’s portfolio in these segments determines the quarterly outcome. Because, if a company is delivering the project, it will report higher earnings versus a company that’s been acquiring the land bank or a company that’s in the construction phase, or a company that has just announced a prelaunch. The numbers will vary accordingly,” said Manik.

 

With a strong launch pipeline planned for Q4 FY25, most top realtors are estimated to achieve their annual pre-sales guidance. DLF has already surpassed its guidance, while Lodha and Godrej’s managements are confident of topping theirs.

 

Prestige plans a launch pipeline of Rs 30,000 crore in terms of gross development value in Q4 FY25 and aims to top its annual guidance if its key projects in Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad get approval.

 

“There has been a steady momentum in the sales figures of the top listed players in Q3 FY25 in comparison to the preceding quarter. Due to the general elections and monsoon season in the preceding quarters, there was an impact on both new launches and sales,” said Anuj Puri, chairman of Anarock Group.

    Q3 Review 

	Sales Bookings (INR Crore)
Company	Q3 FY25	Q3 FY24	Change
DLF	12,093	9,047	33.70%
Macrotech Developers	4,510	3,410	32.30%
Prestige Estates	3,013.50	5,326.10	-43.42%
Oberoi Realty	1,918.25	786.9	143.80%
Godrej Properties	5,446	5,720	-4.80%
Sobha	1,388.60	1,951.60	-29%
Brigade	2,492	1,524.40	63.50%