Inventory overhang of luxury apartments in city’s south and central parts falls to its lowest level in 15 years amid rising sales
Mumbai: The south and central parts of Mumbai, the most expensive property market in the country, have witnessed a decline in their inventory overhang of luxury apartments to its lowest level in the last 15 years, thanks to the rising sales velocity that has been outpacing the number of launches.
While experts had voiced their concern a few years ago with regards to the unsold inventory levels and impending launches in this specific micro-market, the performance since the outbreak of the pandemic has surprised ma- ny of them.
The market has witnessed sales of over 722 apartments priced at 10 crore and above as against new launches of 532 apartments in the last 12 months, showed data from non-broking research firm Liases Foras Real Estate Rating & Research.
The south and central Mumbai’s ultra-luxury housing market has shown almost three times sales growth driven by the segment’s new launches. The ultra-luxury segment touched its best-ever inventory overhang in the last 15 years,” said Pankaj Kapoor, managing director, Liases Foras.
In 2021, the market comprising south and central Mumbai had a total of 118 months’ inventory and the same has now declined to 38 months.
“Buyers are active in the market and are very choosy as many developers promised early delivery but did not deliver. This market for luxury is certainly for ready properties. There is a key difference in inventory and ready apartments. Most of the luxury proper- ties that are being sold are either close to completion or ready pro- jects,” said Vikas Oberoi, CMD, Oberoi Realty.
According to him, the higher the ticket size, the lower is the homebuyer’s appetite for waiting as they are ready to pay a premium and do not wish to assume any risk in terms of delivery
and quality. “There are tailwinds in the market and general positive consumer sentiment towards ownership of spacious apartments. This can be seen accentuated in the south, central Mumbai, and certain pockets like Bandra in Mumbai,” said Vikas Chaturvedi, CEO, Xanadu, a specialised sales and marketing partner for many developers. According to him, while some projects in these markets were launched a few years ago, the cur- rent momentum and renewed interest has helped the- se projects sell inventory worth 1,000-1,500 crore
in the last one year. property market Mumbai’s across segments including luxury, premium and mid-income has continued to set new records al most every month for over the last three years despite higher interest rates and rising housing prices.
The mkt has seen sales of over 722 apartments priced at 10 cr and above as against new launches of 532 apartments In the last 12 months
The performance in terms of stamp duty collection led by the heightened activity in premium and mid-income housing segments have also pushed the state’s revenue higher for several months.
In the first 10 months of the current year, the state government has already fetched over 9,220 crore through stamp duty collection, surpassing the all-time high of over 8,893 crore recorded in 2022.
Apart from the activity in premium housing in other key markets of the city the most expensive apartments in south and central Mumbai have contributed to this performance in a big way. The micro-market has witnessed many large-ticket record-setting trans- actions involving industrialists, CXOs, actors and sports personalities over the last two years.
While ready and closer-to-completion projects have witnessed an uptick in prices in this market, known to be among the costliest not only in India but globally new launches have helped in keeping the weighted average price steady at around 65,500 per sq ft.
