Chennai: Residential sales and launches increased by 42 per cent and 53 per cent respectively across the top seven cities on a year-on-year basis in 2018, a report has said.
The report, titled India’s ‘Resurgent Residential Sector – A Study of Top Seven Markets’, states that new launches touched 1.6 lakh units across Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata.
As many as 1.36 lakh units were sold in the seven key markets during 2018, compared to 96,400 units sold in 2017, said the report.
Delhi NCR witnessed a 114 per cent surge y-o-y in new launches, with the first half of 2018 contributing to a larger share than the second half.
Project launches increased due to enhanced infrastructure activity in certain micro-markets, coupled with government incentives for the affordable housing segment, the report says.
The report also reveals that a significant 39 per cent of launches in 2018 were in the lower ticket size bracket of up to Rs 50 lakh, reflecting strong demand for affordable and mid-market housing.
New launches more than doubled in Delhi NCR during 2018, led by heightened activity in Gurugram and Ghaziabad. However, launches continue to be significantly lower than the momentum of around 70,000 units seen in 2014 as well as 2015, the report says.
The strong growth witnessed in the first half continued in the latter part of the year as well, except Noida-Greater Noida, which witnessed a marginal dip in the second half of last year on a y-o-y basis.
As for prices, average growth in residential prices have remained at sub two per cent levels. This presents a clear case of increasing affordability resulting from higher purchasing power and steady prices for buyers. Further, retail inflation hovering around the five per cent mark in the past few years is benefiting home buyers, the report notes.
According to JLL, going ahead, the outlook for residential sector this year remains positive despite a likely slowdown in launches amidst developers facing tight liquidity conditions.