Interestingly, 92% of the registered homes were fresh sales amounting to 6,241 units that were sold in the month of August. New home sales increased from 53% in July 2021 and 42% in June 2021. In April the growth was as low as 7%.
The impact of Covid-19 pandemic seems to be waning on the real estate sector in Mumbai, as August property registrations have seen a smart uptick on a year-on-year basis as well as month-on-month. The good news is that a majority of these sales have been clocked in the month of August itself. This is in contrast to the period between April and June, when most of the sales registered were from the previous months, as customers took advantage of low-stamp duty charges in the state of Maharashtra.
According to Knight Frank India, Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation region that extends from Churchgate to Dahisar and Colaba to Mulund recorded property registrations of 6,784 units in August 2021, a growth of 157% year-on-year, while the registrations were higher by 16% compared to pre-pandemic period of August 2019 as well.
Interestingly, 92% of the registered homes were fresh sales amounting to 6,241 units that were sold in the month of August. New home sales increased from 53% in July 2021 and 42% in June 2021. In April the growth was as low as 7%. This is in line with the historical periods where the gap between date of filing of documents and date of registrations was negligible. The headline registration numbers for April-July period are elevated as homebuyers who brought their apartments in 2021 during the lower-stamp duty window had a leeway of four months until July 31, 2021, to register their property. At 6,241 units, the number of new apartments sold (fresh sales) during August 2021 were 19% higher compared to 5,244 units in July, 89% higher compared to 3,300 units sold in June 2021, 302% higher compared to 1,554 units sold in May 2021 and 780% higher compared to 710 units sold during April 2021.
The state government collections from stamp duty for August 2021 has crossed the `400-crore mark, which is close to the 2019 monthly average while collections were over four times year on year when compared to August 2020. Shishir Baijal, chairman and managing director, Knight Frank India, said, “Real estate sales in Mumbai have bounced back strongly after the pandemic. Going by the rise in fresh sales during the month which has consistently grown since April along with the significant rise of sales of homes priced up to `1 crore, we can safely say that the real demand has put the woes of the second wave behind. With the upcoming festive season and the expected economic revival along with improved vaccinations, we expect this sales momentum to grow stronger”.
