Realty sales in Mumbai Metropolitan Region dip 74% this quarter, reveals survey
Not a single realty project was launched in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) in the second quarter (April to June) of the year owing to the Covid-19 outbreak and the ensuing lockdown. The sales in the region, too, saw a decline of 74% from the previous quarter (January to March) and 83% from the second quarter of 2019, a survey conducted by real estate consultancy firm ANAROCK Property Consultants revealed.
Many real estate experts termed this period as one of the worst phases in the history of the sector. “A massive drop both in new launches as well as in home sales was expected owing to a complete lockdown for most of this quarter,” said Anuj Puri, chairman of ANAROCK.
Puri said 3,620 properties were sold across MMR this quarter, but their deals were fixed before the lockdown and only formalities were completed in these three months. This a sharp decline from the 13,910 apartments sold in the region in the first quarter.
According to the Builders Association of India (BAI), it was not possible for any developer to launch a project in the April-June period. “There was a massive negative sentiment [in the market] and all activities were paralysed. Our own offices were shut and there was no way we could have arranged site visits for homebuyers,” said Anand Gupta, committee member, BAI.
He added that there would be fewer launches in the coming months too, owing to the weak economic conditions. “We are seeing job retrenchments and salary cuts. In such a scenario, a prospective homebuyer will not prefer taking a plunge and hence builders will be very cautious over launching new projects,” said Gupta.
According to Puri, instead of new launches, builders will be focusing on completing their ongoing projects.
The sector has been plagued by slowdown in the past few years, with buyers finding it difficult to buy properties owing to the exorbitant pricing. With the lockdown, the situation has worsened for the sector.
