UNSOLD STOCK A THREAT TO COMPANIES

Realty sector across the country is affected by the slump.

marginally more as GST isn’t applicable on completed apartments with occupancy certificates.

Unsold residential stock in major cities increased marginally in the September quarter with Chennai witnessing a 20% increase, followed by Kolkata at 13%, Mumbai metropolitan region at 8% and Pune at 7%, according to the Liases Foras report.

Property advisory Knight Frank India’s chief economist Samantak Das said the slowdown in the information technology sector has also affected the market, especially in IT hubs such as witnessed a -5% decline in unsold stock followed by Ahmedabad and Bangalore at -3%

Unsold stock in Kolkata increased the highest among the Tier I cities by 7% followed by Chennai at 6%

Pune. He too expects the market to be stagnant “for at least 10 to 12 months”.

AFFORDABLE HOMES

India’s housing shortage at the beginning of the 12th Five Year Plan, 2012 to 2017, was estimated at 18.78 million units, according to a Union housing ministry report.

Analysts said the demand hasn’t waned but affordability is a clincher in a decision to buy a home.

Of the 64,781 homes that sold across top eight cities in the July-September period, 23,493 were priced between ~25 and ~50

Overall unsold stock in Tier I cities increased marginally.

Chennai witnessed a 20% increase, which is

MUMBAI METROPOLITAN REGION NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION PUNE

the highest, followed by Kolkata 13%, MMR at 8% and Pune at 7%

NCR, Ahmedabad and Bangalore saw a

lakh. Only 3,658 homes were in the ~3 crore-plus range.

Top developers are increasingly focusing on affordable housing, backed by government incentives. They are also reducing prices on a buyer-to-buyer basis.

Shrikant Paranjape, chairman of CREDAI, said Pune has a substantial inventory between ~20 and ~60 lakh that is attracting buyers. In Mumbai, India’s most expensive property market, builders are launching studio and single-bedroom-hall-kitchen apartments in large numbers to suit the homebuyers’ budgets. These are in the range of 180 to 400 decline of -10%, -8% and -7%, respectively.

Sales across the Tier I cities of the country increased by 5%

square feet, priced at ~40 to ~60 lakh.

“Price cuts are necessary to maintain sales momentum,” said Pratik Patel, the director of Rajesh Lifescapes. The Union cabinet’s decision this November to increase the carpet area of homes under the government’s affordable housing scheme could prove to be good news formiddle-income homebuyers.

Jaithirth Rao, executive chairman and director at VBHC Value Homes Pvt Ltd, says: “Many investors have exited, leaving serious end-user buyers in the market. They were fence-sitting so far, but that is slowly getting better.”