Post Demonetization, Sales of Property in India Defied Doomsayers Predictions

From January to March of this year, homebuyers bought property in India undeterred by the lingering effects of demonetization. The data collected from the top eight real estate markets in the country indicates that home buyers overruled conventional wisdom and anecdotal data which implied that, post demonetization, real estate sales would fall drastically in the subsequent quarter.  

Data collected by one of the leading real estate rating and research agencies reveals that, the sales of primary residential real estate in the country, increased by twenty one percent over the quarter before last during the first quarter of 2017. 

Table of content How Will GST Impact Home Buyers And Renters in India? Uncertain GST Rate Already Impacting Stakeholders of Real Estate in India In Which Direction Will Property in India Swing Under the RERA Regime?

 Real Estate Markets that Led the Way 

With growth in housing sales of 47 percent, 43 percent, and 30 thirty percent, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad respectively, led the way in real estate sales during January to March of this year. Across India, in the top eight real estate markets in the country, approximately 61,200 new units were sold in the primary market between January to March of this year while approximately 50,700 units were sold in the primary market during the final quarter of last year in the same realty markets.  

While real estate sales during the first calendar of this year were more robust when compared with realty sales during the final quarter of 2016, year on year, housing sales during January to March of 2017 were 5 percent lower than sales during the same quarter last year. Expert commentators on numerous property sites have stated that low housing sales numbers in Bangalore and Chennai led to a lower year on year growth rate during the first quarter of this year as compared to the same period last year.  

How Large Individual Cities Stacked up 

Unsurprisingly to most industry watchers who have been keeping track of home sales in the primary market, the National Capital Region, with 14,983 units sold during the first quarter of 2017, led the way with the largest number of houses sold in India. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region was a close second to the NCR and where 14,505 housing units were sold in the first quarter of this year. Home sales in NCR and MMR grew by 24.5 percent and 23.6 percent respectively when compared with sales during the final quarter of last year.  

Home sales, in Bangalore and Chennai, fell by 35 percent and 44 percent respectively when compared to sales in the primary market in the two cities during the final quarter of last year. According to this real estate site, among the largest eight cities in India, Bangalore and Chennai fared the worst in the first three months of this year.