Housing sales up 50%, new supply doubles in top-8 cities in 2022: PropTiger

Surpassing the previous year’s high, residential real estate sales in India grew 50 per cent year on year, while new launches were up 101 per cent, with a total of 431,510 new homes launched during calendar year 2022, shows a report by real estate brokerage PropTiger.com. New launches were also up six per cent over 2015 levels.

According to the study, 308,940 units were sold in 2022 as against 205,940 units in 2021. The figures include sales across the top-8 cities in all the four quarters of each of the two calendar years. The top-8 cities were: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi-NCR (Gurugram, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad), MMR (Mumbai, Navi Mumbai & Thane) and Pune.

Mumbai led new supply in 2022, with a 39 per cent share in overall launches, followed by Hyderabad (19 per cent) and Pune (18 per cent), the report said.

“This improvement in key growth metrics for the sector, the largest employment generator in India after agriculture, could largely be attributed to improved consumer sentiment on the back of renewed importance of home ownership during the pandemic, and sustained economic recovery post-pandemic,” it added.

Mumbai and Pune led property demand in 2022, taking a combined share of 56 per cent in overall sales in 2022. Data shows that the demand grew both sequentially and yearly in all four quarters of the year.

“A large chunk (26 per cent) of the sales was concentrated in the Rs 45—75 lakh price range. Notably, the share of units in the more than Rs one crore price bracket has been growing continuously,” said the report.

This price bracket took a share of 22 per cent in 2022, the highest in a decade. In 2022, about 21 per cent of the units sold were ready-to-move-in, while 79 per cent were under construction.

Meanwhile, during Q4 of calendar 2022, residential demand was on a par with the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. With 80,770 units sold in the final quarter of 2022, the demand was up 19 per cent over Q4 of 2021.

While the hike in property prices and interest rates have slowly begun to weigh on homebuyer sentiment and are expected to have a short-term impact, the overall consumer outlook remains positive, the study finds.

Also, new supply in 2022 was concentrated in the Rs 1—3 crore price bracket, which took a 28 per cent share of overall launches. Units in the Rs 45—75 lakh price range occupied a significant share of 27 per cent as well. Q4 2022 saw the launch of 145,030 units, up 95 per cent YoY. New launches have stayed above the 100,000 mark for the third straight quarter in 2022.

“Despite the steady climb in home loan interest rates, customers have been interested in locking in lower prices instead of fretting about mortgage interest rates. This is also evident from our Consumer Sentiment Survey which indicated that homebuyers have been positive about the economy and their future earnings throughout 2022,” said Vikas Wadhawan, Group CFO, Housing.com, Makaan.com & PropTiger.com.

The year 2022 has ended on a healthy note for residential realty, with demand being primarily driven by strong end-users’ interest. Sales during the year jumped 50 per cent YoY signalling the confidence revival in the market, said Ankita Sood, head of research, PropTiger.com, Housing.com & Makaan.com.

Sood added, “If we look deeper into cities, the western metros of Mumbai and Pune continue to lead the demand, capturing an impressive 56 per cent of the annual sales tally in 2022.”

Hyderabad has fast picked up and outperformed its southern counterparts, Bengaluru and Chennai. Residential realty outlook for 2023 remains cautiously positive, given the global macroeconomic environment and the uncertainty over spread of the new Covid variant, the report added.

It also said that the global rise in inflation throughout 2022 has exerted upward pressure on prices. That, coupled with the premium being charged for ready-to-move-in units, has pushed prices for new supply and existing inventory across the top Indian cities by 7 per cent YoY at the end of 2022.

By the end of this calendar year, the unsold inventory stood at 849,000, with 80 per cent under various stages of construction. Of the available stock in the top-8 cities, nearly 20 per cent falls in the ready-to-move-in category. Pune, Kolkata and Chennai have the lowest inventory overhang of 26 months, whereas Delhi NCR continues to have the highest inventory overhang of 61 months.