Prashant Thakur, Head – Research, ANAROCK Property Consultants
Project delays are one of the most alarming issues historically dogging the Indian real estate sector.
The dearth of effective planning and execution of construction activities, escalating construction costs, approval delays, diversion of allocated funds to other projects and tepid sales are some of the predominant factors resulting in project delays. The homebuyer is, of course, at the losing end.
To put it in numbers, during 2017, out of the total 5.8 lakh residential units slated to be completed across the top 7 cities in India, only 1.5 lakh units were actually delivered until December 2017. This indicates that around 4.3 lakh units actually missed their stipulated completion deadlines.
The National Capital Region (NCR), one of the country’s largest residential markets, was seriously wounded by sudden policy changes, structural reforms – and the dubious practices of unscrupulous developers.
As a result, it topped the list of cities with maximum project delays. Around 1.5 lakh units in NCR missed the 2017 deadline. The story in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) was no different with nearly 1.1 lakh units missing the said deadline.
Prashant Thakur, Head – Research, ANAROCK Property Consultants
Nestled in the foothills of Aravalli – one of the oldest range of folded mountains in India – Sohna was for long a major tourist attraction due to its lakes, hot springs, temples and many places of historical importance.
Located in the southern part of Gurugram, Sohna is also popularly known as ‘South Gurugram’. In the last few decades, Gurugram’s unprecedented economic growth has led to accelerated urbanization and rapid growth in migrant population flocking the city for employment.
Over time, the fast-paced growth in key areas such as MG Road, Udyog Vihar and Cyber City has created a ripple effect and pushed developments towards the western and southern parts of the city. This led to the emergence of new areas such as Golf Course Road, Golf Course Extension Road, Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) and Sohna Road – leading right up to Sohna town.
With proximity to various business centres and industrial clusters, good overall accessibility, affordable prices and planned infrastructure upgrades, Sohna is evolving as a key real estate destination for the working population of Gurugaram and surrounding regions.
Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants
NCR has witnessed a 3 to 5% decrease in average per-square-foot property prices over the last one year (Q4 2016 – Q3 2017).
See chart below:
Currently, NCR has the maximum number of unsold units among all the top cities in India. An approximate 2 lakh unsold units are stocked up across different cities in the region. Greater Noida has maximum share of unsold inventory, followed by Gurugram.
There are many reasons for the price decrease in NCR. To begin with, excessive delay in project construction and possession has hurt buyers’ sentiments and led to subdued demand. Also, many projects have been stalled due to agitations and litigation issues.
The massive unsold inventory itself has acted as a sentiment suppressant – and finally, while demonetisation, RERA, and GST are potentially positive moves for the industry, they have played a significant role in reduced buyer sentiment, contributing to the price falls.
Prices are likely to remain stagnant for a few more quarters. Factors such as the huge unsold inventory,