Housing sales hit 11yr high, cross 1.73 lakh units in 1st half of 2024

India’s real estate market witnessed the sale of 1,73,241 residential units across the country’s eight major cities during the first half of 2024, which marks an 11-year high according to the global real estate consultancy Knight Frank. Office space demand registered record business, too, at 34.7 million square feet.

The cities surveyed are Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Ahmedabad. Knight Frank data shows residential property sale increased 11 per cent, while office space lease surged 33 per cent on an annual basis between January and June 2024 in the eight cities surveyed.

“Strong economic fundamentals and stable socio-political conditions” led to an 11-year high, Shishir Baijal, chairman and managing director, Knight Frank India, said in a virtual press conference on Thursday, adding 34 per cent sales happened in the premium housing category.

Individually analysing the cities, Mumbai had the best real housing sales figures for the January-to-June period with 47,259 units sold at an annual growth rate of 16 per cent. Total office space leased during the tenure was 5.8 million square feet, up 79 per cent on a yearly basis.

Bengaluru had the best figures for office space lease, witnessing a 21-per cent rise in demand on a yearly, basis to reach 8.4 million square feet. The city saw the sale of 27,404 units in the housing sector, at an annual growth rate of 4 per cent.

Delhi-NCR witnessed a surge in demand for office space, with 5.7 million square feet leased at a yearly growth rate of 11.5 per cent between January and June 2024. However, housing sales dropped 4 per cent on an annual basis to record sale of 28,998 units.

Pune’s residential market saw the sale of 24,525 units marking a 13-per cent surge on an annual basis while 4.4 million square feet of office space was leased out in the city, which denotes a yearly increase rate of 88 per cent.

In Hyderabad, housing sales touched 18,573 units, surging by 21 per cent on a yearly basis, while 5 million square feet of office space was leased in the city at an annual growth rate of 71 per cent.

The Ahmedabad real estate market sold 9,377 units of residential property from January to June 2024, marking a 17 per cent annual growth. Total office space leased in the city was 1.7 million square feet.

Kolkata had an annual growth rate of 25 per cent in terms of housing transaction, selling 9,130 units. Total office space leased in the city was around 0.7 million square feet, marking a 23 per cent yearly increase.

Chennai sold 7,975 units of housing property, which marked a 12 per cent surge on a yearly basis. Office space figures for the city, however, saw a slump, selling 3 million square feet, which marked a 33 per cent fall on an annual basis.