8,400 homes sold totalling ₹630 crore in August; best in a decade for the month

Barring 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic had slowed down sales, the highest sales recorded in August was in 2018, when 6,862 new home registrations were made

Mumbai August, a typically slow month in home sales, has recorded its best sales in a decade this year, as 8,463 homes were sold generating an overall revenue of ₹630 crore, according to data from the office of the Inspector General of Registration (IGR).

In April, 11,743 new registrations were made, and while that dipped to 9,839 in May and 9,919 in June, the number of registrations shot up to 11,340 in July (HT PHOTO)

Barring 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic had slowed down sales, the highest sales recorded in August was in 2018, when 6,862 new home registrations were made, the data accessed by SquareFeatIndia revealed.

In August 2013, the number of homes registered in Mumbai was 4,779, which went up to 5,031 the following August. In August 2015, the number of homes registered in the city of Mumbai was 5,573, which came down to 5,444 in August 2016. In August 2020, the number of registrations stood at 2,642. By the following year, however, the number of sales recorded in the month of August was 6,784.

However, this year has seen better sales in previous months: In April, 11,743 new registrations were made, and while that dipped to 9,839 in May and 9,919 in June, the number of registrations shot up to 11,340 in July.

“August has historically been a slower month, recording a month-on-month decline in eight out of the last ten years. The rise in Repo rate of 140 bps, leading to a rise in home loan rates, and the increase in stamp duty has had its impact on buyer sentiments. Despite that, Mumbai’s home sales momentum has remained comparatively buoyant and recorded a 20% growth over same period last year. It may hence be too early to assess if the impacts of these rate changes on housing sales are long term. Further, homebuyer sentiments are expected to sustain in the upcoming festive season,” said Shishir Baijal, chairman and managing director, Knight Frank India, a real estate consultancy firm.

Trends show that August, which falls in the middle of the year, sees fewer registrations. They pick up as the festive season begins with Ganesh Chaturthi, Dusshera and Diwali, as developers also offer discounts around this time.

With Reserve Bank’s three consecutive repo rate hikes, amounting to 140 basis points in a short duration from May 2022 to August 2022, Mumbai witnessed 28% drop in numbers of sales of properties in August 2022 on a month-on-month (MoM) basis, Knight Frank India report released on Tuesday, said.

In the last 10 years, eight out of the 10 August months have recorded a MoM drop in property registrations – August 2018 and 2019 remain an exception to this recording a MoM rise of 7% and 2% respectively, the report said.

According to the consultancy firm, 95% of all property sales registrations in August 2022 were for properties transacted in the same month. About 3% of properties registered in August 2022 were filed in July 2022 and around 2% of these deals were filed in March and June 2022.

Of the total registrations this month, the western suburbs’ share was 57%, one percentage point higher than the previous month’s. The central suburbs’ share was 35%, seven percentage points higher. However, registrations saw a decline in central and south Mumbai, from 8% to 3% and 8% to 4%, respectively, from July to August.

The Repo rate hikes have resulted in a slowdown in registrations as consumers are mostly cautious while purchasing property in anticipation of additional rate hikes effectively leading to a rise in mortgage rates impacting their affordability.