New residential launches across seven key markets in Q4 2020 witnessed increased momentum with 26,785 new residential unit launches, which was more than twice the new launches in Q3. Hyderabad and Bengaluru dominated the new launches accounting for 38% and 16% of the overall launches respectively.
Development focus on mid and affordable segments continued in Q4 2020 with more than 80% of the new launches in the sub Rs 1 crore category, according to a report by real estate services firm JLL.
“Most of the new launches in the southern markets of Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad were in the sub Rs 1 crore category. Moving ahead, the focus on this price segment is expected to continue with developers trying to reap benefits of strong pent-up demand,” the report says.
Residential sales accelerated by 51% in Q4 as compared to Q3 2020. This improvement has been holistic with seven key residential markets showing an uptick in sales. Mumbai, the country’s largest contributor to sales for this quarter accounts for 23% of the overall sales, while the Delhi NCR market accounts for 20%. Pune saw the maximum increase in sales activity as compared to the third quarter at 147% with 3,323 units sold in all, according to the report.
Seven key cities saw recovery gains of more than 50% in 2020 with Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi NCR gaining maximum foothold as compared to 2019, the report states.
“GDP in the July-Sep quarter of 2020 showed higher than expected recovery. During the same quarter, the housing market showed some initial signs of recovery as well, with sales increasing by 34% on a sequential basis. In the backdrop of issues like job security and fall in income levels, this uptick in sales was a significant achievement. The fourth quarter has witnessed a 51% improvement in residential sales, and not just that, the improvement has been evenly spread among all seven cities,” said Ramesh Nair, CEO and Country Head, India, JLL.
He added that the housing market is set for a new chapter of growth in 2021, fuelled by affordability, reinforced desire to own a house and renewed interest from certain buyer segments such as NRIs.
“If sales continue its recovery path coupled with limited new supply for the next few quarters, the market is only expected to gain with attractive deals for homebuyers while delivering stable returns to developers,” the report adds.