Supply of New Housing Units Improved In Oct-Dec 2020

The supply of new housing units improved in the October-December 2020 quarter in the country, a report by PropTiger.com said.

According to Real Insight Q4 2020, a total of 54,329 new units were launched during the three months. New launches grew by 173 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to 19,865 units that were launched in eight key markets during the July-September period.

The report noted that this also reflected a 12 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth over the 48,530 new units that were launched in the December quarter in 2019.

"This was the first quarter since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic wherein we witnessed a YoY growth, signaling a turnaround in the market," it said.

"Considering all factors, the sector has shown remarkable tenacity in 2020 against unprecedented odds that caused the economy to contract and impact consumer spending," said Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, Housing.com, Makaan.com, and PropTiger.com.

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He noted that the fact that housing sales in India's key markets have started to bounce back, despite the general gloom caused by the pandemic, shows the immense potential of the real estate sector, which employs the highest number of unskilled workers in the country.

"The sector's performance seems particularly impressive, given that the pandemic has impacted the income-generating capacity of a large number of people. End-users and investors continue to feel confident about investing in real estate. Prices continued to remain stable and the overall outlook looks positive," Agarwala added.

In 2020, a total of 1,22,426 units were launched, about half of the new supply in 2019 — 2,44,256 units.

While 58,914 units were sold during the three months, only 182,639 units were sold through all of 2020. Pixabay

A city-wise break-up of launches also shows that there has been a quarterly increase in the October-December period across markets, barring Ahmedabad. Hyderabad, Pune, and Mumbai were the top three cities in terms of new launches.

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Units in the sub-Rs 45 lakh category were the largest contributor to the overall supply, with nearly 46 percent share, followed by the mid-segment, which contributed 25 percent.

The spike in supply numbers could be attributed to the increase in home-buying interest in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and also the fact that new launches were muted over the prior three quarters.

"While the trends point to market recovery and positive news given the imminent launch of a vaccine that will ease the pandemic concerns, our optimism should be cautious. Buyers continue to expect low home loan rates, an extension of developer offers, and prefer ready-to-move inventory over under-construction ones," said Mani Rangarajan, Group COO, Housing.com, Makaan.com, and PropTiger.com.

"We believe that the government should continue to support the sector through moves like lower stamp duty, re-evaluation of circle rates, and increase in tax deduction limit for interest on home loans to ensure that the sector continues to revive."

Even though home sales in markets covered in the analysis declined by 27 percent compared with the December quarter of 2019, they showed a 68 percent improvement compared with the preceding quarter.

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While 58,914 units were sold during the three months, only 182,639 units were sold through all of 2020. Compared with the overall sales registered in 2019, the numbers achieved in 2020 show a 47 percent decline, the report said. (IANS)