Kolkata: Despite the gradual hike in property prices and home loan interest rates in 2022, it has been a fantastic year for residential real estate.
Latest Anarock Research indicates that housing sales in the top 7 cities have created a new peak in 2022, breaching the previous high of 2014. Approx. 3,64,900 units were sold in 2022 against 2,36,500 units in 2021 across the top 7 cities – rising by 54% on Y-o-Y. The last peak was seen in 2014 when 3.43 lakh units were sold across the top 7 cities.
In terms of cities, MMR witnessed the highest sales of approx. 1,09,700 units in 2022, followed by NCR with approx. 63,700 units. The two realty hotspots are together once again the leading residential markets.
Meanwhile, new launches across the top 7 cities saw 51% annual rise – from 2,36,700 units in 2021 to nearly 3,57,600 new units in 2022. MMR and Hyderabad witnessed maximum new launches in 2022, together comprising nearly 54% share of the total new launches in the year.
Anuj Puri, Chairman – Anarock Group, said, “2022 has been a phenomenal year for residential real estate despite all headwinds including rising property prices, interest rate hikes and all geopolitical tensions etc. Housing sales in top 7 cities breached the previous highs of 2014 while new launches in comparison remained restricted.”
“While it was widely anticipated that the rise in property costs and interest rates towards the second half of 2022 would have a cascading impact on the residential sales, Q4 2022 remained quite robust with as many as 92,160 units sold in the period,” says Puri. “Interestingly, NCR became the shining star in 2022 which deliberately restricted new supply in the year to approx. 22,350 units but witnessed robust housing sales of 63,700 units.”
“Further, as we march into a new year, we anticipate the current sales momentum in the housing sector to continue in the first quarter of 2023. The appetite for homeownership has remained undeterred, with maximum sales being driven by the end-users. However, various risks loom large around the residential segment. A lot will depend on how the home loan interest rates pan out over the next year.”
Puri goes on to state that in 2023, “We may see new launches to remain well under control across most top cities. Ready-to-move-in will continue to top buyer demand but the demand for new launches will also gain momentum. This is largely because the new supply in the market is and will continue to be dominated by the large and listed developers in the new year. There is a sense of confidence among the buyers for these developers and hence they will continue to perform well and see significant sales, just as they did in 2022.”
