HYDERABAD: Hyderabad’s residential space prices have shown a four per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase, the highest among top eight markets of the country. The city has recorded home sales of 1,609 units in just Q3 (third quarter) 2020, according to a report released on Thursday by real estate consultancy firm Frank Knight. Hyderabad and Bengaluru were the only markets that witnessed high price increments of four per cent and 3 per cent YoY respectively, as developers in these pre-dominantly end-user markets sustained pricing power in a favourable demand-supply scenario.
As cities remained under lockdown for most periods of Q2 2020 (April-June) due to the pandemic, both sales and supply volumes saw record low levels in this quarter. Thus, to gauge the market changes of Q3 2020 compared to a regular period, the report compared Q3 2020 performance to those during quarters of 2019 (pre-Covid levels).
The total residential sales in the top eight markets under review during Q3 2020 reached 54 per cent of 2019’s quarterly average. Similarly, residential launches in Q3 2020 reached 56 per cent of the 2019 quarterly average. Mumbai, Bengaluru and NCR accounted for 56 per cent of quarterly sales volume during Q3 2020 compared to 62 per cent in 2019, primarily due to a fall in Bengaluru’s share in total sales for the same period. Kolkata was the only market that exceeded the quarterly average of 2019 in both parameters, with sales and new launches increasing to 137 per cent and 139 per cent respectively, compared to pre-Covid levels.
Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said, “Developers have been focusing on liquidating inventory and home buyers are inclined to purchase ready assets, which has translated into reduced unsold inventory levels in this quarter.”