Housing sales likely to rise 14% in January-March: Anarock

Housing sales in India's top seven cities are estimated to rise 14% during January-March to over 1.13 lakh units on strong demand despite increase in prices by 6-9%, according to Anarock.

Real estate consultant Anarock, which tracks the primary (fresh sales) residential market, said the "bull run" continued in the housing segment of Indian realty sector despite rise in interest rates on home loans, leading to highest quarterly sales in the last one decade.

According to the data compiled by Anarock, housing sales are estimated at 1,13,770 units in January-March, up 14% from 99,550 units in the year-ago period across seven major cities.

Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune contributed 48% to total sales.

Delhi-NCR is the only city likely to witness a decline in sales during the first quarter of this calendar year.

"The residential market's winning streak continued in the first quarter of 2023 with housing sales in top cities breaching the previous high of Q1, 2022.

"The quarter has recorded the highest ever sales in the last decade amid significant rise in demand for high-ticket priced homes (more than ₹1.5 crore)," Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri said.

Puri, however, cautioned that emerging headwinds could pose a challenge in the short-term.

"Persistent inflation concerns along with another possible rate hike by the RBI in the near future could dent the housing market's growth trajectory in the upcoming two quarters," Puri said.

As per the data, housing sales in MMR are likely to rise 19% to 34,690 units in January-March from 29,130 units in the corresponding period of last year.