Housing sales down 11% in Q2, prices up 23% in top 7 cities: Anarock

New Delhi: Housing sales fell 11 per cent during July-September to 1.07 lakh units in seven major cities on lower launches and an annual 23 per cent growth in average prices, according to Anarock.

Real estate consultant Anarock on Thursday released data that showed an 11 per cent fall in sales of residential properties in July-September to 1,07,060 units from 1,20,290 units in the year-ago period.

Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri said, "All the top cities individually recorded a dip in housing sales." The top 7 cities witnessed a drop of 19 per cent in new housing supply, with 93,750 units launched in July-September 2024 against 1,16,220 units in the corresponding period in 2023.

"Nevertheless, the fact that sales remained higher than launches indicates that the demand-supply equation remains robust," Puri said.

He pointed out that housing sales in the third quarter tapered down amid high prices and the monsoon season.

"As always in this period, the 'shraad' period also suppressed demand to an extent as many Indians defer home buying in this period." Overall, Puri said the housing market is stabilising after creating a new peak in January-March 2024.

Anarock said that developers have several projects lined up during the festive quarter (October-December) during which the market is expected to see an uptick in demand.

"That said, (sales) growth in the upcoming quarters may not be as steep as seen in the last 1-2 years," said Puri.

"Residential prices too seem to have peaked out and are now gradually stabilising across cities. Developers are likely to roll out several offers and discounts during the upcoming festive quarter to attract buyers," As per the data, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) recorded the highest sales among the top 7 cities in the July-September quarter at 36,190 units, a 6 per cent drop from 38,505 units in the year-ago period.

Pune saw a 17 per cent decline in sales to 19,050 units from 22,885 units during the period under review.

Housing sales in Delhi-NCR fell 2 per cent to 15,570 units from 15,865 units.

In Bengaluru, housing sales decreased 8 per cent to 15,025 units from 16,395 units.

Hyderabad recorded sales of 12,735 units, a 22 per cent fall from 16,375 units in the third quarter of 2023 calendar year.

Housing sales in Kolkata declined 25 per cent to 3,980 units from 5,320 units.

In Chennai, housing sales fell 9 per cent to 4,510 units during July-September from 4,945 units in the year-ago period.

"Due to escalating input costs as well as significant sales growth, average residential property prices across the top 7 cities collectively rose by 23 per cent annually - from Rs 6,800 per sq. ft. in Q3 2023 to Rs 8,390 per sq. ft. in Q3 2024," Anarock said.

Among the top 7 cities, Hyderabad saw the highest 32 per cent jump in average prices.