Pune beats trends, clocks highest sale in the country

Keeping aside all sorts of apprehensions and doubts, the domestic realty sector seems to have shown a great deal of resilience. While the first quarter of the current financial year was challenging for the sector due to pandemic-related restrictions, the second and third quarter have witnessed a remarkable recovery as home sales across major cities have picked up quite well. Though experts have continued to keep their fingers crossed, this surge in home buying has gone a long way towardsboosting sentiments in a market in which developers are eagerly awaiting further improvements.

Despite the pandemic, Pune’s real estate industry has seen healthy green shoots which have brightened the hope for better results in the New Year. Pune has seen the highest sales of tenements in the country during the current quarter. Pending demand and lowering of stamp duties by the state government is said to be the main reasons for the bullish sales in the city.

Data collated and shared by a leading real estate data analytics company shows that Pune has zoomed past sales as compared to cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, etc. In the third quarter of the present calendar year, Pune had seen sales of 9,412 units which is a significant jump from the 5,503 sales the city had registered in the second quarter. Thane had registered sales of 9,057 units while Bengaluru and Hyderabad had sales of 5,663 and 4,295 units respectively.

But it is not just sales. Pune has also seen the highest number of new launches. Thus, the city has reported 7,563 new unit launches which is almost double of the 3,706 units the city had seen launched in the second quarter of 2020. Other cities have seen significantly lower launches in the country.

Pune’s sales and launch figures, which go entirely against the trend seen during the pandemic, have come as a pleasant surprise to many. Industry experts have said that this can be analyzed in terms of pent up demand as well as various sops offered by the state government which had seen the sector going gentle on the prices. Many real estate experts said that most of the sales have happened in the units with 600-750 square feet carpet area and in the price bracket of Rs. 35-70 lakhs.

According to a leading real estate consultancy, both Thane and Pune had seen good sales as compared to other parts of the country. One of the biggest catalysts for robust real estate sales in Pune has been the 300-bps reduction in stamp duty by the state government. This has been further matched by developers who have offered to absorb the remainder thus significantly reducing the total outflow towards new home purchases. Several other factors have dovetailed well with the stamp duty cuts suchas reduction of home loan rates to historic lows, demand for upgrading to a larger house, pent up demand of 2 quarters and direct/indirect discounts offered by developers, all of which culminated with the festive season of Navratri-Dussehra-Diwali. Realising that this is an opportune time to buy, fence sitters have also joined the bandwagon, the consultancy firm added.

Overall, the real estate sector too is now betting on a better 2021. With sky-high expectations based on the slew of measures the government took in 2020, the real estate sector expects the new year to unfold with people continuing to consider it as the safest investment option.