‘Home sales rise 9% in Jan-March, led by Mumbai; office leasing up 43%’
The first quarter of 2024 saw a 9 per cent rise in home sales at 86,345 units across top eight cities in India, while office leasing rose 43 per cent to 16.2 million sq ft, according to Knight Frank India’s quarterly update on the sector.
India is one of the few sweet spots for the real estate sector, while global conditions are still challenging and it is a slow path to recovery, Knight Frank said in its update.
RESIDENTIAL SALES
Mumbai witnessed the highest growth during the quarter. According to Knight Frank’s data, 23,743 units were sold in the quarter, a rise of 17 per cent yearonyear. The next two best performing markets were
Hyderabad and Pune. The National Capital Region, the second largest in volume terms after Mumbai, saw a 1 per cent up move in the quarter, while Bengaluru saw a fall of 2 per cent.
With the exception of Mumbai and Kolkata, all other cities saw an increase in residential supply. Chennai saw the highest growth at 89 per cent, while in Ahmedabad the growth was only 1 per cent.
More homes have been sold in the price category of over ₹1 crore. This could be due to a rise in prices. In the year ago quarter, the majority of home sales were in the ₹50 lakh₹1 crore band.
Prices have increased by 213 per cent over one year period, with Hyderabad seeing the most growth and Ahmedabad the least. Sequentially, the rise has been 14 per cent, with Mumbai and Ahmedabad not witnessing any change.
OFFICE DEMAND
India may likely end 2024 with record leasing volumes, per Knight Frank India’s Chairman and MD Shishir Baijal.
With the exception of Kolkata and Bengaluru, all other cities reported robust growth in office lease transactions.
Hyderabad witnessed a rise of 261 per cent, while Pune reported a 146 per cent growth in leasing volume. Kolkata saw a fall of 9 per cent and Bengaluru was flat.
The gap in supply and demand has led to buoyancy in office rents. Bengaluru, Mumbai and NCR have seen 45 per cent growth in rents. There also has been a marginal reduction in vacancy levels though it is still above 15 per cent.