News: Housing sales rise 93% YoY in Q2 2021, but dip 58% QoQ amid 2nd Covid wave-23-06-2021
ANAROCK data reveals that housing sales in Q2 2021 stood at approx. 24,570 units across the top 7 cities, increasing by 93% annually but dropping by 58% Q-o-Q.
For residential real estate, the first COVID-19 wave in 2020 had a significantly deeper impact than the second wave this year. ANAROCK data reveals that housing sales in Q2 2021 stood at approx. 24,570 units across the top 7 cities, increasing by 93% annually but dropping by 58% Q-o-Q.
As many as 12,740 units were sold in the corresponding quarter of 2020, and 58,290 units in the preceding quarter (Q1 2021). MMR and Pune drove a massive share of housing sales between April and June 2021 with a 46% share of the total sales.
Meanwhile, despite localized lockdowns and restrictions due to the second wave, developers launched new projects (mostly digitally) and put approx. 36,260 units on the market across the top 7 cities. Interestingly, Hyderabad is the frontrunner in overall housing launches with approx. 8,850 units launched in Q2 2021 – followed by MMR with 6,880 and Bengaluru with 6,690 units.
Notably, the premium budget category (priced between Rs 80 lakh and Rs 1.5 crore) saw maximum new launches in the quarter with an 36% share. Next came the mid-range segment (priced between Rs 40 and Rs 80 lakh). Unlike in previous quarters, affordable housing accounted for just 20% of the new supply in Q2 2021.
Commenting on the same, Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Property Consultants, said, “The second COVID-19 wave definitely impacted overall residential property market activity in the second quarter this year when juxtaposed against the preceding quarter. However, compared to the corresponding period of 2020, the sector displayed remarkable resilience. To the backdrop of developers adopting technology in their businesses, there was a huge yearly jump in both new launches and sales. Importantly, the localized lockdowns and restrictions did not dent activity as much as the complete nation-wide lockdown last year.”
“Additionally, we saw the rising dominance of listed and leading developers whose sales share against the smaller and unorganized ones increased further in the quarter amid the second wave – from 40:60 previously to 43:57 now. Back in FY2017, the ratio was 17:83. The impact of the second wave was felt more intensely by smaller and unorganized players,” he added.
Restrictions are now easing across cities and the vaccination drive is gathering momentum. “We, therefore, anticipate residential demand to see steady growth in the upcoming quarter. The previously-noted structural shift in housing demand continues – many current homeowners seek to upgrade to larger homes and the previously purchase-averse millennials remain very active property buyers,” Puri said.
Q2 2021 Sales Overview
Close to 24,570 units were sold in Q2 2021 across the top 7 cities, against ~58,290 units in Q1 2021 – marking a decline of 58% Q-o-Q. NCR, MMR, Bengaluru, and Pune together accounted for 74% of the sales in this quarter. Compared to Q2 2020, housing sales increased by 93% in Q2 2021.
Q2 2021 New Launch Overview
The top 7 cities saw around 36,260 new units launched in Q2 2021, as compared to 62,130 units in Q1 2021 – a decrease of 42% Q-o-Q due to the 2nd COVID-19 wave. The Southern cities Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai accounted for 51% of the total new launches during Q2 2021. In Q2 2020, a mere 1,400 units were launched across the top 7 cities.
Unsold Inventory
Unsold inventory across the top 7 cities increased by 2% in Q2 2021 over Q1 2021 since new supply outpaced overall absorption numbers in this quarter. Unsold inventory increased from 6,41,860 units in Q1 2021 to approx. 6,53,540 units in Q2 2021. On a yearly basis, the overall unsold stock in the top 7 cities increased by 3%. However, the two major realty hotspots – MMR and NCR – saw their unsold stock decline by 6% and 1%, respectively.
Price Movements
Due to the second COVID-19 wave, average residential property prices across the top 7 cities remained stagnant in Q2 2021 against the preceding quarter. On a yearly basis, Bengaluru and NCR saw the average residential prices rise by 2%, while MMR, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai saw average property prices increase by 1%. Kolkata saw no yearly change in average property prices.
