MMR Sees 33% YoY Growth in Housing Sales in Jan

On the back of the stamp duty rate cut announced by the Maharashtra government, Mumbai Metropolitan Region witnessed a 33 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in housing sales in January 2021. It also witnessed a 14 percent YoY growth in average property values. The aver

BY Realty Plus
Published - Tuesday, 02 Mar, 2021

MMR Sees 33% YoY Growth in Housing Sales in Jan

On the back of the stamp duty rate cut announced by the Maharashtra government, Mumbai Metropolitan Region witnessed a 33 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in housing sales in January 2021. It also witnessed a 14 percent YoY growth in average property values. The average value of property sold in January was Rs 66 lakh, a study by CREDAI-CRE Matrix has said. A total of 1,38,728 housing units were registered in MMR from September 2020 to January 2021. The value of the units was 96,956 crore, the report titled MMR Property Tracker that was unveiled at the CREDAI MCHI Biznet 2021 in Mumbai on February 26 said. The effect of year-end discounts in December 2020 was carried forward to January 2021 as well as the month witnessed sales better than the months of September, October, November 2020. The value of registrations in December 2020 was at Rs 36,772 crore, which was a massive 162 percent more than the average of previous three months. Also, the registrations in January 2021, which stood at Rs 19,099 crore, was 36 percent higher than the average registration value for September-November 2020 period, the report said. The monthly report, which has traced the quantum of MMR residential real estate transactions in January, has analysed the region by dividing it into eight key housing markets in the region: CBD Mumbai, Central Mumbai, Central Suburbs, Western Suburbs, Eastern Suburbs, Thane, Raigad and Palghar. Following the stamp duty rate cut announced by the Maharashtra Government, MMR’s real estate sector witnessed an improvement in homebuyers’ sentiments and housing registrations. This not only led to higher sales for developers but also increased revenue for the state government, especially in December 2020. Although the rate was marginally increased to 3 percent in January, the enhanced sentiments carried forward in January 2021 as the month witnessed better sales than September, October and December, 2020. The study also found that the Central Business District (CBD) Mumbai, one of the most expensive housing markets in India which has been struggling since almost half a decade and that it witnessed renewed enthusiasm from the HNIs, as they opened their wallets to acquire properties, with 48 percent YoY growth in units sold in January 2021, with an average ticket size of Rs 1.6 crore. In Central Mumbai, the period from September 2020 to December 2020 showed a hockey-stick like increase in value of units registered, which truly captures the positive effect of stamp duty reduction taken by the state government. Also, the value of sales in January 2021 which stood at Rs 2,173 crore was almost twice the monthly average of value of units sold in previous three years. In the central suburbs, the value of sales in January 2021 which stood at Rs 1,069 crore was a substantial 71 percent more than the monthly average of value of units sold in previous 3 years, with an average ticket size of Rs 2.1 crore. The western suburbs and eastern suburbs witnessed 58 percent and 71 percent YoY growth in sales with an average ticket size of Rs 1.1 crore. This sales momentum is expected to continue further as pandemic effect is slowing down and fence-sitters are now going ahead and taking the property investment plunge, it said. Across Thane, 30 percent more units were sold as compared to January 2020, with an average ticket size of Rs 41 lakh. Raigad, largely known to be an affordable housing market, oversaw a YoY growth of 23 percent in housing sales. The rush for property registrations was also witnessed in outskirts of Mumbai, in regions such as Raigad, which is considered to be an affordable housing market. During the September 2020 to January 2021 period, the average value of property registered stood at Rs 37 lakhs and garnered a total of Rs 7,835 crore worth of sales, the report said.