Delhi-NCR records 18% hike in property sales
The real estate market seems to have picked up speed with Delhi-NCR witnessing around 18 percent hike in house sales during Jan-June 2013.
Absorption rate increases
The absorption rate of residential properties in the national capital region (NCR) property market has shown an upward trend. During the first two quarters of 2013, around 35,000 housing units have been sold, reveals a recent report by property consultant Knight Frank.
Greater Noida on the lead
Greater Noida has recorded 400 percent hike in the absorption rate compared to the first half of 2012. Around 14,300 housing units were sold in H1 2013, against 3,750 units in the year-ago period. This supports the fact that there is surely a strong demand for affordable housing projects. However, Gurgaon and Noida, witnessed a major fall in residential sales, mainly due to the unaffordable pricing options of properties in the markets.
Completion of projects on priority
The report states that, at present, the NCR realty market is striving for a better equilibrium. In order to narrow down the demand-supply gap, the private developers have been focusing more on completion of pending projects rather than coming up with new project launches. The real estate market of Delhi-NCR has recorded about 40 percent fall in launches over the past two years, as compared to the peak levels of 2010.
Noida alone has observed a steep fall of 72 percent in new launches in H1 2013 compared to same period last year. This fall can be attributed to factors such as limited land availability, hike in allotment rates of group housing projects, litigation between buyers and builders, etc.
Housing supply in H1-2013
In the first half of the ongoing year, about 49,000 units have been launched, recording a 11 percent rise compared to the launches in same period last year. At present, nearly 5.4 lakh residential units in NCR are in the stage of construction and around 1.32 lakh units have been piled up in the unsold inventory.
Buyer sentiment would not affect all areas
Though sluggish buyer sentiments have affected property sales in several parts, few micro-markets such as Dwarka Expressway, Greater Noida and Noida Expressway may likely continue to attract investors.
Realty market scenario in other cities
However, according to the report, real estate market in other parts of the country is likely to remain slow for some more time owing to prevailing uncertainty of the economy. Weak buyer sentiments have been largely affecting the house sales. On the flip side, falling sales volume and liquidity concerns have forced developers to defer new project launches. Market experts are of the opinion that the property markets in South may continue to be unaffected by the slowdown.
The real estate demand seems to have registered a stable growth over the past few years. If the demand for properties continues to see a similar growth trend with decreasing demand-supply gap, then it can be expected that there would be a healthy market scenario for the NCR.
