Housing sales experienced a significant decline of 42% during the January-March period, totaling 45,200 units across seven major cities, according to housing brokerage firm Anarock. In comparison, the same period in the previous year saw sales of 78,510 units in cities including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune, as reported by sales data up to March 25. Additionally, sales witnessed a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 24%.
Anarock, with an annual turnover of nearly Rs 200 crore in the last fiscal year, attributed the decline to poor demand amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus infections. The brokerage firm anticipates negligible sales until the end of this month due to the nationwide lockdown.
Anuj Puri, Chairman of Anarock, commented on the situation, stating that the decrease in housing sales and new project launches across the top seven cities in India was expected given the global healthcare crisis. He noted that March, the month when advisories and lockdowns were imposed, saw a steep decline in both new launches and housing sales compared to the preceding two months.
Breaking down the data, housing sales in Delhi-NCR saw a 41% drop to 8,150 units in January-March 2020 from 13,740 units in the same period the previous year. MMR witnessed a 42% decrease to 13,910 units from 24,000 units in the year-ago period, while Bengaluru experienced a 45% dip to 8,630 units from 15,580 units in January-March 2019. Pune recorded a 42% decline to 7,200 units from 12,340 units, and Hyderabad saw the steepest fall of 50% to 2,680 units from 5,400 units.
Furthermore, sales in Chennai stood at 2,190 units, reflecting a 36% decrease from 3,430 units in January-March 2019, and Kolkata observed a 39% decline to 2,440 units in January-March 2020 from 4,020 units a year ago.
Anuj Puri acknowledged the government’s necessary efforts to curb the virus’s spread, stating that the lockdowns have halted construction activity and may lead to project delays in the future. New launches also decreased by 42% annually, dropping from 70,480 units in the first quarter of 2019 to approximately 41,200 in January-March 2020, according to the report.
