Home sales went up by 97% in September

The sale of houses in Mumbai, which was plunging in the corresponding period last year, revived significantly in July-September. The figures are showing a drop again after realtors increased prices, data from the house registration department in the city shows.

September saw a 97% jump in house registrations — which includes new and resold homes with 6,112 properties stamped compared with 3,107 in September 2007.
The components of registration include certificate of sale, apartment deed, conveyance and agreement deed.

This led to a 68%, or Rs180.4 crore, jump in revenues for the state exchequer. Hari Prakash Pandey, vice-president, finance, Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), the third-largest realtor in the country based in Mumbai, said the rebound has been quite significant.

“We have seen a V-shaped recovery since March. Though prices are still below 2007 levels, they have risen 10% from 2008. We are seeing record sales since July,” Pandey said.

HDIL recently launched its Bhandup project, where it is developing 1.3 million sq ft with approximately 1,000 apartments.  It has already sold 15% of the properties, priced at Rs5,751 per sq ft, in week since launch. “We have priced it competitively and after selling more than 60% stock we would revise our prices.”

Despite the price hike, sales are very good, said Abhisheck Lodha, director, Lodha Developers. “Sales are higher by 40-45%. In our Dombivili project, we sold 900 units in the first 9 days since launch. I hope it is a long-term recovery. As for prices they can increase at a moderate pace, but if there is a sudden price rise demand will vanish,” Lodha said.

A real estate analyst with a domestic brokerage points out the sales trend is very impressive in March-July, when prices were low. “But if you see the numbers since, sales have been slipping in inverse proportion to prices,” he said.