Property sale registrations in Mumbai or areas under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) contributed over Rs 734 crore, accounting for 8,628 units, to the state exchequer in September, the highest in 10 years, real estate consultancy firm Knight Frank India said.
Fifty-seven per cent of registrations were in the price band of over Rs 1 crore, while the most preferred apartment-size homes were between 500 and 1000 square feet. Knight Frank estimated that state revenues from property registrations grew 39 per cent year-on-year (YoY).
Despite strong headwinds, the Mumbai real estate market continues to be strong.
In a press release on Saturday, Knight Frank said it was the best performing September for property sale registrations in the last 10 years, recording 11 per cent YoY growth. Higher mortgage rates and stamp duty had little impact on sales momentum in September.
Registrations were up 1 per cent month-on-month (MoM) despite downbeat sentiment due to ‘Pitru Paksha’ or ‘Shraadh’ —a 15-day period when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors and is considered inauspicious for property purchase.
It has been observed since 2013 that MoM sales typically drop in the month due to Pitru Paksha. However, this time, the trend has been broken. The Mumbai market is expected to grow as more developers focus on affordable residential units.
Shishir Baijal, chairman & managing director of Knight Frank India, said the growth comes despite the 15-day ‘Shraadh’ period and headwinds due to the rising repo rate.
Baijal said, “Residential sales to remain buoyant during the festive season. Despite the fresh rise in repo rate by 50 basis points (BPS) to 190 BPS, we remain in the affordable threshold and can expect positive sales for some more time.” He added that stamp duty revenue increased by 39 per cent YoY and 14 per cent MoM due to robust home registrations in September.
In the same period a year ago, property sale registrations were 7,804.
Between January and September 2022, the state government’s revenue collection jumped 57 per cent, an all-time high year-to-date (YTD), to Rs 6,658 crore, lifted by the additional 1 per cent metro cess and the price rise and sale of higher ticket size units.
Knight Frank noted that 96 per cent of registered properties were purchased in the same month. Also, properties below Rs 2.5 crore bagged a total market share of 85 per cent. The Western and Central suburbs dominated the residential property demand, accounting for 90 per cent of demand in September 2022.
