The year 2021 saw 17% more residential real estate units achieve completions in top Indian cities than could be sold, according to the latest numbers from real estate consultant Anarock Property, leading to a substantial increase in inventory in markets such as National Capital Region and Pune.
According to the agency, a total of 2.78 lakh residential units were completed during 2021 compared to a total sale of 2.37 lakh units during the same period.
With COVID restrictions easing, the number of completions were up 84% in the year compared to the previous year. This was faster than the growth in sales, which had risen 71% compared to 2020.
The biggest addition to unsold inventory was in the Delhi market, while in other markets, the addition of inventory was in line with, or less than sales, except for Pune.
The National Capital Region saw a whopping 86,590 residences get completed during 2021. This was more than double the 40,050 units that were sold during the year in the same market, implying that inventory rose by around 46,600.
In Pune, completions were below sales at 46,090 units against 35,980 units sold.
In the other five cities, sales and completions were largely in sync.
In Mumbai region, for example, the total number of completions were 70,490, while sales were 76,400.
Similarly, in Kolkata, completions were at 11,620 units, against sales of 13,080.
In the three South Indian metros of Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, the total completions were at around 63,870, while the total sales were 71,020 units.
OUTLOOK FOR 2022
While total number of completions have risen by 84% in 2021, they are likely to again grow by to by around 39% in the current year (2022) to 3.85 lakh.
Out of this, around one third — 1.24 lakh — will become ready for sale in the NCR market alone, up from 86,590 in 2021.
Mumbai will come in second with 70,600 to be scheduled to be completed this year, largely flat against 70,490 in 2021.
In terms of under construction stock, Delhi region leads with 4.22 lakh units, followed by Mumbai region with 4.26 lakh, while Pune has 2.39 lakh.
In South India, Bangalore has 1.92 lakh units under construction, while Hyderabad has 1.03 lakh homes and Chennai has around 48,120 units.
Kolkata has 84,400 units under construction.