COVID-19 second wave: Housing sales dip 58 per cent in top 7 cities

  

 Housing sales in top 7 cities in April-June quarter 2021 (in Units)

Cities	Q2 2021	Q1 2021	Q2 2020
NCR	3,470	8,790	2,100
MMR	7,400	20,350	3,620
Bengaluru	3,560	8,670	2,990
Pune	3,790	10,550	2,160
Hyderabad	3,240	4,400	660
Chennai	1,590	2,850	480
Kolkata	1,520	2,680	730
Total	24,570	58,290	12,740

Source: ANAROCK Research

 

The ferocious COVID-19 second wave has significantly slowed down the housing sales in the April to June quarter of 2021 compared to the January to March quarter of 2021 but top seven cities showed an 93 per cent increase over the April to June quarter of 2020, according to the latest report by Anarock Property Consultants released today.

Mumbai Metropolitan Region which had reported sales of 20,350 units in Q1 of 2021 – thanks to the 2 per cent stamp duty cut in Maharashtra – reported sales of just 7400 units in Q2 of 2021. However, compared to 3,620 units sold in Q2 of 2020, the sales were more than double. Pune sold 3,790 units in Q2 compared to 10,550 in Q1 of 2021 and just 2,160 in Q2 of 2020. Mumbai and Pune accounted for 46 per cent of the total sales of 24,570 units across top seven cities. The top 7 cities had sold 58,290 units in Q1 of 2021 indicating the extent of recovery from the 2020 national lockdown.

Meanwhile, despite localized lockdowns and restrictions due to the second wave, developers launched new projects (mostly digitally) and put approximately 36,260 units on the market across the top 7 cities. Hyderabad is the frontrunner in overall housing launches with approximately 8,850 units launched in Q2 2021  followed by MMR with 6,880 and Bengaluru with 6,690 units. The top 7 cities launched around 36,260 new units in Q2 2021 compared to 62,130 units in Q1 2021 - a decrease of 42 per cent Q-o-Q due to the COVID-19 second wave. In Q2 2020, a mere 1,400 units were launched across the top 7 cities.

Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Property Consultants, said, “The second COVID-19 wave definitely impacted overall residential property market activity in the second quarter of this year when juxtaposed against the preceding quarter. However, compared to the corresponding period of 2020, the sector displayed remarkable resilience. To the backdrop of developers adopting technology in their businesses, there was a huge yearly jump in both new launches and sales. Importantly, the localized lockdowns and restrictions did not dent activity as much as the complete nation-wide lockdown last year.”

He observed that the listed developers increased their market share slightly compared to the smaller, unorganized developers during the second wave – from 40:60 earlier to 43:57 now. “Back in FY2017, the ratio was 17:83. The impact of the second wave was felt more intensely by smaller and unorganized players,” he said.

Puri said with downward curve of second wave, easing of restrictions across cities and vaccination drive gathering momentum, he expected residential housing demand to see steady growth in the next quarter. “The previously-noted structural shift in housing demand continues - many current homeowners seek to upgrade to larger homes and the previously purchase-averse millennials remain very active property buyers,” he said.

The slowing down of sales also led to a 2 per cent increase in unsold inventory in Q2 of 2021.  Unsold inventory increased from 6,41,860 units in Q1 2021 to approximately 6,53,540 units in Q2 2021.. However, the two major realty hotspots - MMR and NCR - saw their unsold stock decline by 6 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.

 

 

 

 

 

Mumbai bars get relief as BMC withdraws circular on liquor sales

 Restaurants and bars in Mumbai have got relief after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday withdrew its notification restricting liquor sales in restaurants to 11.30 pm.

 The notification was issued on Friday evening sending restaurants and bars into a tizzy. While some restaurant owners did not received the official notification, others said complained to their association that they received the notification on whatsapp and were unsure of its legitimacy. Based on information received from its members, the Hotel and Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI) then sought immediate clarification from the BMC and requested its withdrawal.

 

“We are glad that the BMC understood the kind of disorder such last minute notifications can cause to the restaurant industry and withdrew last evening’s notification restricting sale of liquor post 11:30 pm. We thank the Commissioner of the MCGM and the Principal Secretary Excise for expeditiously issuing a fresh notification withdrawing the restriction. The Hospitality industry has been struggling to stay afloat since the lockdown was implemented by the government. The earlier notification would have just compounded to the industry’s woes, but by withdrawing it swiftly, the government has instilled our faith back in it,” said Sherry Bhatia, President, HRAWI. 

 

Restaurant owners also questioned the logic of ban on liquor sales post 11.30 pm

 

 “How is that going to help control Corona numbers? Are we saying that Coronavirus gets activated between 11:30 pm to 1:30 am? The earlier circular was issued on a Friday evening. This would’ve effectively killed our weekend business. As it is, we are emerging from an unprecedented crisis. Weekday business is almost non-existent. Weekends are the only time we do any kind of business. Weekend business just helps us reduce our losses. To restrict operations at a time like this would be equivalent to killing us. Fortunately, the decision has been reversed and we are thankful to the government, and the BMC for it,” said a restaurateur who wished to remain anonymous.

Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, HRAWI spokesperson & Vice President, Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) said the notification issued at a short notice had caused chaos and there was little clarity if it was effective immediately or Friday night. He said notifications on whatsapp will open scope for malicious and fake notices and the government should stick to proper channels and grant adequate time for compliance. 

“We thank the BMC and Excise departments for understanding our predicament and for immediately acting on it and taking back an order which would’ve hurt an already ailing industry even further,” Kohli said. 

The restaurants and hotel industry had earlier expressed their anguish at the union budget 2020-21 not providing any relief to the industry trying to recover from the Corona lockdowns in a scenario where demand has been hit majorly. The budget speech apparently made no reference to the restaurants and tourism industry. The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India had written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman demanding the lowering of the present threshold from Rs 200 crore to Rs 25 crore per hotel for classification as infrastructure for hospitality projects. Lowering of the threshold would enable hotels to avail term loans at lower interest rates and have a longer repayment period.