Mumbai Comes Second After Delhi in Home Sales

“There is a lot of upsurge in demand for residential property in cities like Pune, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad because of affordability and jobs creation,” says Ahuja.

“The reason for slow sales in Mumbai is the pricing of property in the city. Pune, which is closer to the Mumbai market, sees higher sales in residential units despite having just half the units Mumbai built. High costs paid for land in Mumbai, coupled with rising construction costs has skewed the pricing landscape which is affecting sales,” says Pankaj Kapoor, founder, Liases Foras.

A Standard Chartered report on April 23 said that “Residential absorption in Mumbai at 33 million sq ft a year is now at its lowest since November 2009.”

On this note, Boman R Irani, chairman and MD, Rustomjee, Mumbai-based real estate developer and secretary of MCHI-CREDAI cited that “If the government brings down the project clearance time, it will help developers save on input and interest costs which will be eventually passed on to the consumers.”

Vyomesh Shah, managing director, Hubtown, real estate developer said that “With ongoing delays in the approval process, around 16-18 million square feet of residential space is stuck every year in MMR.”