Bengaluru housing market in upswing; Q1 sales beat Chennai, Hyderabad

Bengaluru has emerged as the front-runner in south India's property market with housing demand and supply in the city being higher than Hyderabad and Chennai during January-March period, according to a research report. ANAROCK Property Consultants said that Bengaluru witnessed increased demand for housing properties from IT-ITeS sector and start-ups. Housing sales stood at 11,500 units in Bengaluru during January-March 2018 in comparison to 3,800 units in Hyderabad and 2,300 units in Chennai. In supply, Bengaluru saw launches of 6,800 units as against 2,600 units in Hyderabad and 2,100 in Chennai. Even at a pan-India level, Bengaluru's residential market is currently only second to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) in terms of supply and absorption for Q1 of 2018 calendar year, ANAROCK said. "Increased commercial activity, positive buyer sentiments, infrastructure upgrades and improved job opportunities in the city have given a major fillip to Bengaluru's housing market," ANAROCK Chairman Anuj Puri said. Stating that Bengaluru market is largely driven by the end-users, Puri said these buyers, who were in wait-and-watch mode, have now actively returned to the market on the back of "overall sentiment upsurge" resulting from the city's rapidly improving market fundamentals. "This enhanced market performance is primarily led by increasing demand from the IT-ITeS sector, which has belied the fears of US President Trump's policies putting a fatal dent into India's InfoTech story," he said. Thriving start-up ecosystem across the city, the presence of excellent education and healthcare facilities, and constantly improving physical infrastructure also contributed in better housing demand and supply situation, Puri added. Housing supply jumped over two-fold to 6,800 units in January-March 2018 from 3,000 units in Q4 2017. "Unsold housing stock in the city declined by nearly 5 per cent from 96,000 units in Q4 2017 to 91,000 units in Q1 2018. Also, property prices have seen a marginal increase of 1 per cent from Q4 2017 to Q1 2018, with the current average property prices in Bengaluru being Rs 4,850/sq. ft," ANAROCK said. Besides housing many high net-worth individuals (HNIs), Bengaluru is also home to several mid-level IT professionals who have added to the demand for mid-segment (Rs 40-80 lakh) housing. Micro markets that have multiple options in this segment include Whitefield, Outer Ring Road, Sarjapur Road, and Electronic City, and also a few locations in North Bengaluru. The affordable housing options (less than Rs 40 lakh) are also fast catching up in the suburbs of Hosur Road and Mysore Road.