Housing sales have witnessed a growth of 14% in the first nine months (January-September) of 2019 as compared to the corresponding period in 2018, according to consultancy Jones Lang Lasalle.

In its India Real Estate Market Update Q3 2019, JLL today said the office segment witnessed strong leasing, registering a jump of 40% during the same period as compared to the corresponding period in the previous year, the report added.

Among all prime markets in the country, Hyderabad topped the chart in net absorption and new completions, registering a 36 per cent and 44 per cent market share respectively, on the two parameters during the July-September quarter. Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR market followed Hyderabad in net absorption and new completions. At the same time, quality commercial supply continued to be constrained within Mumbai.

However, housing sales during the period couldn’t touch the levels seen in the pre-demonetisation era, when about 1.20 lakh units were sold across the top seven markets, the report added. Compared to this, the top seven markets during the January-September period this year witnessed a sale of about 1.15 lakh units, it said.

Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi NCR continued to account for 60 per cent of the total sales during the period.

“Since the beginning of the year, several measures including a cumulative 110 bps rate cut have been announced to help the sector revive and grow. While banks are yet to fully transmit the rate cuts by a corresponding reduction in lending rates, this has strengthened consumer sentiment. We hope that developers will be able to register good sales during the festive season,” said Ramesh Nair, CEO & Country Head, JLL India.

Nearly 11 mn sq ft of Grade A office space was absorbed during the third quarter (July-September), increasing the overall countrywide net absorption by 40 per cent to about 33 mn sq ft in the first nine months of the year.

The years 2017 and 2018 witnessed net absorption of 28.7 mn sq ft and 33.2 mn sq ft respectively in the entire year. With the current pace, the net absorption is likely to surpass the historical benchmarks well beyond 40 mn sq ft by the end of the year.

The country also witnessed stronger new completion during January to September 2019 period. Registering a growth of 42 per cent, y-o-y, 36 mn sq ft of new office space was added to the stock. More significantly, the new completions in the first nine months have already surpassed the levels witnessed in the last three years.

“The market is headed for tremendous growth. The year 2019 is expected to set new benchmarks in terms of new completions,” added Nair.

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