52% of flats under construction in Greater Mumbai remain unsold

Of the total 670,000 flats under construction registered with the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region till the beginning of August, more than 350,000 remained unsold, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield and Propstack.

According to the report based on information from the MahaRera website, 52 per cent of the under-construction flats registered with the authority remained unsold while 48 per cent were sold.

One- and two-bedroom flats sold the most, accounting for over 85 per cent of total sales.

"With over 50 per cent of the current residential inventory remaining unsold, prices of projects have been largely stable even as the momentum in launches of new projects has been slow in MMR," said the report released on Thursday.

While one-third of the registered projects are beyond Thane, Mumbai's western suburbs have 25 per cent of the total development in MMR.

The report said 43 per cent of projects registered under MahaRera till 3 August 2017 are expected to be completed on schedule. Delays beyond three years are expected in less than 15 per cent of the total projects.

The report analyzed 5,620 projects including residential and residential-cum-commercial projects covering 506 million square feet.

Areas beyond Thane witnessed the maximum number of project launches and registration in MahaRera at 1,835 projects, constituting 33 per cent of total projects registered.

"Availability of land at cheaper rate along with incentives by the government to create affordable housing has been the major reasons for many developers venturing to these locations to create large-scale residential projects at affordable pricing," the report said.

"Despite the distance from commercial hubs such as south Mumbai, central Mumbai and BKC, micro-markets beyond Thane have been throwing up viable residential options at multiple price points," said the report.

Gautam Saraf, managing director Mumbai at Cushman & Wakefield, said, "Land availability at lower prices is a crucial parameter that allows developers to keep the per unit price under check. Most end-users are value sensitive and would like to get maximum benefit out of their purchases. Locations beyond Thane allow developers to create homes that deliver value beyond just habitat. These areas are well-connected through public transport and give developers the confidence to launch large scale projects in these areas."