During the January-March quarter, the prices of housing units in eight major cities of the country have registered an increase of up to 11 per cent on a year-on-year basis. During this period, the prices of houses increased due to increase in demand and rapid increase in construction cost. House prices have surpassed pre-Covid levels in all eight cities.
This has been concluded in a joint report by real estate developers’ body CREDAI, real estate advisory firm Colliers and data analyst firm Liase Foras. Together, these three have released a report on monitoring the prices of houses for the first time. According to the report, the Delhi-NCR region saw the highest price increase of 11 per cent and the price of residential units touched Rs 7,363 per sq ft in the January-March quarter.
In Hyderabad, the price of housing units increased by nine per cent to Rs 9,232 per sq ft in the January-March 2022 period as compared to a year ago. In the quarter, prices rose by eight per cent to Rs 5,721 per sq ft in Ahmedabad and 6 per cent to Rs 6,245 per sq ft in Kolkata. However, only one per cent increase was seen in house prices in the metropolitan areas of Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai. The prices of residential units in these three real estate markets rose to Rs 7,595, Rs 7,107 and Rs 19,557 per sq ft, respectively.
Home prices in Pune saw a three per cent jump from a year ago to Rs 7,485 per sq ft. In a joint statement, CREDAI, Colliers and Liase Foras said, “Demand for homes has picked up in most cities. Apart from this, the prices of construction materials have also started touching the sky for the last two years. Due to this, house prices on an annual basis have exceeded the pre-Covid level in all the eight cities.
Colliers India Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ramesh Nair has forecast a further increase of 5-10 per cent in house prices in the next two-three quarters. Pankaj Kapur, managing director of LiaseForce, said that despite the recent hike in interest rates, home sales will continue to pick up.