Residential Sales 10-Yr Low; Office Vacancy 4-yr high In H1
While sales of residential units across eight major metros in India – Mumbai, National Capital Region (NCR), Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad – hit a 10-year low, office vacancy rates across these metros are near four-year high. Prices of residential property in these eight major metros witnessed a sharp fall in the first half of 2020 (H1-2020) with Kolkata witnessing the steepest drop of 7.5 per cent to Rs 33,433 per square meter (sq. mtr.) during this period, says the latest report by Knight Frank India. Sales of residential units during this period across these metros dropped 54 per cent to a decadal low of 59,538 units as compared to 129,285 units in the year ago period with new launches dropping 46 per cent to 60,489 units. A similar trend was witnessed across the office market. Office demand and supply came to a near standstill during the April – June 2020 quarter of calendar year 2020 (Q2-2020) with total transactions and project completions falling 79 per cent year-on-year (YoY) during this period. As India adopted the work from home (WFH) culture over the past few months, office vacancy levels across these metros saw an uptick with most companies letting go of the leased spaces to save on cost. Office rentals in this backdrop across these markets also witnessed a drop with the NCR recording the sharpest fall of 8.8 per cent to Rs 844 per (square metre) sq. mt. per month. At an aggregate level, the combined vacancy level across these markets moved up to 14.1 per cent in H1-2020, as compared to 12.7 per cent in the corresponding period in 2019.
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