Housing sales are likely to hit an all-time high this year at 3.6 lakh units in seven major cities on a strong demand across all price categories despite hardening of interest rates on home loans and property rates, according to Anarock.
The previous high was recorded in 2014 when housing sales stood at 3,42,980 units across primary markets (fresh sales only) of seven major cities -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune.
As per the data of property consultant Anarock, the sales of residential properties have reached 2,72,710 units during January-September period of the current calendar year and already breached the 2019 number -- pre-COVID year -- of 2,61,360 units.
As housing demand continues to be strong during this festive month despite a rise in interest rates on home loan from 6.5 per cent to around 8.5 per cent, the property consultant has forecast that sales would touch 3.6 lakh units in the full 2022 calendar year.
"2022 will create residential market history in India, having already breached all previous highs and continuing to witness strong sales momentum in the ongoing festive season," Anarock group Chairman Anuj Puri said.
"Homeownership sentiment retained the vibrancy ushered in by the COVID era - despite interest rates hikes (by RBI) of 190 basis points, increased property rates, and the conspicuous lack of festive season offers and discounts this year," he added.
Housing prices have risen by at least 10 per cent in the last year.
Recently, HDFC Capital MD Vipul Roongta noted that housing demand in India would remain strong in the coming years as demographic dividend and relatively buyers' less reliance on home loans will sustain the momentum despite higher interest rates.
Housing sales stood at 3,18,400 units in 2013; 3,42,980 units in 2014; 3,08,250 in 2015; 2,39,260 units in 2016; 2,11,140 units in 2017; 2,48,310 units in 2018; and 2,61,360 units in 2019.
Sales plunged to 1,38,340 units in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic and the imposition of nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of this disease.
The housing market revived in 2021 calendar year, and the sales bounced back to 2,36,520 units during the same period, but fell short of the pre-COVID number.
Anarock noted that end-users and investors continue to zero in on projects by large and listed developers.
However, new launches in 2022 will remain lower than the previous peak of 2014, which saw 5,45,230 homes launched across the top seven cities.
The current trends indicate that launches in these seven cities will exceed 3.4 lakh units throughout 2022.
The first nine months of 2022 saw 2,64,780 units launched in the top seven cities.
In the last 18 months, all major listed real estate developers have been reporting decent to high growth in their sales bookings numbers.
Bengaluru-based Prestige Estates, Macrotech Developers (Lodha group), Godrej Properties, and DLF Ltd are the top performers in annual sales bookings.
Other listed entities, including Oberoi Realty, Sobha, Mahindra Lifespace, Indiabulls Real Estate, Brigade Enterprises, Puravankara Ltd, and Shriram Properties are also giving them tough competition.