Home prices across India fall 2.3% in first half

A 2.3 per cent drop in residential prices in the first half of 2020 pulled down India by 11 spots to 54th position in the Global House Price Index of Knight Frank.

Home prices have been coming down in the last one year. As on Q2 2020, prices declined by 1.9 per cent for the 12-month period. For the sixmonth period of Q1 and

Q2 of 2020, prices were down 2.3 per cent compared to the same period last year. In Q2, prices were down by 1.6 per cent.

This saw India moving down 11 spots from 43rd position to 54th position among 56 countries and territories tracked by Knight Frank India.

“The residential sector has been impacted by low demand across most markets in India. Further, the slowdown due to the pandemic in the global economy has adversely affected the real estate sector and the purchasing power of homebuyers. Whilst a lot will depend on when the economy opens up completely, the current softening of prices can be beneficial for the end users to make their purchase decisions. Further, lower home loan interest rate, can provide the right motivation for house purchase,” said Shishir Baijal, chairman and managing director, Knight Frank India. Reduction of stamp duty by some states too will force the fence-sitters to make the jump.

The Global House Price Index tracks the movement in mainstream residential prices across 56 countries and territories using official statistics. In the 12-month period between Q2 2019 and Q2

2020, Turkey led the annual rankings with prices up 25.7 per cent, followed by Luxembourg at 13.9 per cent YoY.