Mumbai Dec home sale registrations added Rs 821 cr to state revenues: Study

Some 9,142 properties sold in December in Mumbai contributed over Rs 821 crore to Maharashtra’s revenues by way of stamp duty and registration fees. Eighty four per cent of these were residential units, according to Knight Frank.

For the whole of calendar year 2022, the state collected stamp duty and registration fees of about Rs 8,887 crore. Over 121,000 housing sales were registered in Mumbai city alone.

Post pandemic, the need for home ownership drove the market demand, with over 100,000 sale deeds being registered for the second straight year in 2022. In fact, property registrations rose nine per cent year on year in 2022, to hit a decadal high.

The repo rate has risen by 225 basis points within seven months, from 4 per cent in April 2022 to 6.25 per cent in December.

Despite this, sales have remained above the pre-pandemic level and prices have stayed within the accepted threshold of Mumbai homebuyers, the report says.

Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said, “Mumbai’s residential market is in growth mode for two reasons–first, the changed attitude towards home purchases since the pandemic, which has continued, and second, economic growth leading to incremental income and financial stability.”

Thus, despite higher home loan rates, the absence of sops from the state government and the fact that capital values have not risen substantially over the last year, demand has remained strong, Baijal said.

According to the findings of the report, the current month has emerged as the third best December in terms of property sale registrations, following December 2020 and December 2021, both of which benefited from some stamp duty cuts.

However, December 2022 was not supported by any such measure. On the contrary, consumers were burdened with an additional one per cent metro cess, in force since April. Though there has been a 5 per cent YoY drop in property registrations, government revenue collection was up eight per cent this December.

With the rise in housing prices, it was observed that home buyers are willing to compromise on desired apartment area.

However, the report found that the need for house ownership continued to drive demand in 2022. This was evident with a larger number of smaller apartments being bought, while the ticket size remained comparable to 2021.

For deals of up to Rs one crore, the share of apartments admeasurimg 0-500 sq ft grew from 66 per cent to 71 per cent, while that of larger apartments of 500-1000 sq ft shrunk from 33 per cent to 28 per cent YoY.

In the Rs 1-2.5 crore range, the share of 1,000-2,000 sq ft apartments dipped from 15 per cent to 12 per cent, while that of apartments measuring under 1,000 sq ft area grew from 84 per cent to 88 per cent.

In December 2022, consumers preferred to remain in their home micro market. Buyers in the central and western suburbs have shown a strong tendency to upgrade to properties within their own micro market.

“Around 92 per cent of homebuyers from central Mumbai and 93 per cent from western suburbs prefer their current micro market while buying property. About 5 per cent of homebuyers in the western suburbs have moved to central suburbs while 6 per cent from central suburbs have relocated west,” the report said.

Homebuyers from the prime micro markets of Central and South Mumbai are not so inclined to buy properties within the micro market.

Around 55 per cent of homebuyers from central Mumbai and 50 per cent from South Mumbai have bought a home in the same micro market, the report said.

Also, homebuyers’ spending pattern remains similar in 2021 and 2022. Properties worth Rs 2.5 crore or less accounted for 85 per cent of registrations, while those worth more than Rs 2.5 crore had a 15 per cent share.

Moreover, buyers in the 31-45-year age bracket made the largest group in December 2022, with a 46 per cent share of total residential property registrations.

Around 31 per cent of homebuyers are aged 46-60 years, and 11 per cent are under 30. Homebuyers aged beyond 60 had a 13 per cent share in December 2022.