Home sales in the top seven Indian cities reached an all-time high of 120,280 units between July and September, a new report revealed. This is noteworthy as the monsoon quarter usually records slower market momentum.

According to estate consultancy Anarock, compared to 88,230 units sold during the same months in 2022, sales this year were 36% higher.

The demand was nearly 5% higher than the 115,100 units sold in the previous quarter – April-June. It was an all-time high number until this quarter.

Also, the rise in demand is also notable given that the average home prices in the top seven cities saw double-digit growth of 11% compared to the same quarter last year.

“Cumulatively, the two western cities accounted for 51% of total sales seen across the top seven cities in the quarter. In terms of growth, MMR (Mumbai Metropolitan Region) saw a 46% annual rise in housing sales, while Pune saw a massive 63% yearly jump,” said Anuj Puri, chairman of Anarock Group.

The report highlighted that the highest demand came from the MMR, which saw sales of 38,500 units. This is 46% higher than the 26,400 units in 2022.

MMR was followed by 22,885 units in Pune and 16,395 in Bengaluru. Pune recorded a 63% YoY jump in sales, while the rise in demand was 29% in Bengaluru.

Supply was also robust during the quarter. Report stated that the top seven cities saw 116,220 new units launched in the quarter, against 93,490 units in the same quarter last year – an increase of 24%. On a quarterly basis, there was a 13% jump from 102,610 units launched between April and June.

RBI repo rate pivotal

According to the consultancy, the continued healthy sales momentum can be partially attributed to the repo rate pause maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). “This has kept home loan interest rates stable, maintaining high housing purchase sentiment,” it said.

The RBI had pressed the pause button on repo rate hikes in April this year after raising it by 250 basis points cumulatively since May 2022.

“Considering the overall current economic scenario, the momentum in housing sales and new launches across the top seven cities is expected to continue in the October-December quarter,” Puri said.