23/10/2020
Housing sales expected to jump 35% this festive quarter on the back of pent up demand
MMR likely to witness rise in housing sales anywhere between 33-36 percent; Delhi-NCR sales may jump between 27-31 percent
Despite spiraling COVID-19 cases, housing sales are expected to witness a 35 percent jump this festive season quarter from October to December against the July to September period, fresh data from Anarock Property consultants has indicated.
The second quarter of 2020 saw a significant increase in residential sales and this provides sufficient reason to expect a significant increase during the upcoming festive season, which will prompt many fence-sitters to avail the best deals on offer.
Also, developers have pulled out all the stops to attract buyers, announcing schemes for festive season – many of which result in an actual reduction in the cost of acquisition, it said.
The third quarter 2020 base period saw nearly 29,520 units sold across the top 7 cities - much lower than the pre-COVID-19 quarter (Q1 2020) which saw nearly 45,200 homes sold. This effectively results in larger scope for growth. In all, housing sales are all set to rebound to 90 percent of the pre-COVID-19 levels (Q1 2020), the data said.
In MMR, housing sales in Q3 2020 stood at 9,200 units. The ongoing October-December period may see anywhere between 33-36 percent rise in sales with buyers looking to make the most of limited period offer of reduced stamp duty charges, developer discounts and freebies and prevailing low home loan interest rates.
In Bengaluru, housing sales in Q3 2020 stood at 5,400 units. The rise is expected to be at least 30-35 percent in these numbers in the Oct.-Dec. period.
In Delhi-NCR, the jump in sales is likely to be between 27-31 percent in the festive season. As many as 5,200 units were sold in Q3 2020.
"Previous year trends suggest that housing sales across top cities in festive quarter (Oct.-Dec.) mostly saw an uptick - anywhere between 5-10 percent - over the preceding quarter. This is largely because the festive season is considered most auspicious for property buying in India and developers also roll out various schemes and offers to fuel the fervor," said Santhosh Kumar, vice chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants.
The years 2016 and 2017 were a marked contrast - festive quarter sales in these years actually reduced against the preceding quarter, mainly because of structural reforms including Demo, RERA and GST.
These offers come with an expiry date - when the housing market regains enough momentum, they will be withdrawn. Most end-users will aim to use this period to their advantage.
The prevailing lowest-best home loan interest rates coupled with limited-period government incentives such as reduced stamp duty and registration charges in markets like MMR are added flavors to the festive treat.
