Between April and June 2024, residential supply witnessed the highest growth rate in the last 24 months, driven by the increasing availability of under-construction properties, shared the recently published PropIndex Report (April-June 2024) by Magicbricks, India’s leading real estate platform. According to the report, the supply of under-construction properties has increased by 11.7% QoQ, while prices have risen by 15.2% QoQ between April-June 2024. This surge has resulted in prices of under-construction properties surpassing those of ready-to-move properties in several cities such as Gurugram, Mumbai, Noida and Thane.
Browsing: Research
According to the report’s findings, Q1 2024 marked a discernible shift towards high-end properties among homebuyers. Notably, the share of properties priced at INR 1 crore and above in sales surged to 37%, a significant increase from the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, more than doubling in magnitude. During this period, there was substantial growth (50-55%) in demand observed within the INR 1-5 crore price bracket, closely followed by the INR 5-10 crore range, particularly evident in cities like Mumbai, Gurugram, and Bengaluru. This transition signifies a departure from purely budget-driven decisions towards properties that better resonate with buyers’ lifestyle preferences.
Owing to rapid industrial growth and the emergence of one of the fastest growing real estate segments in the country, India’s warehousing sector is set to cross the 300 million square feet (MSF) mark by 2025, according to a report jointly launched by CREDAI and CRE Matrix. Currently, the overall Grade A warehousing stock stands at 216.2 MSF. In Q1 CY ’24, India witnessed a 5% increase in rentals – reflecting how India’s warehousing demand continues to surpass supply – with the absorption to supply ratio standing at 1.4 in the quarter.
GCCs have become an important catalyst for change in the Indian office sector. With 1.3 mn talent as of 2019, the sector saw a 30–35% share of total office leasing in India in 2017-2019 period with over ~1250 operational GCCs. Between 2020-2022 period, GCCs accounted for 38–43% of the total leasing, housing over 1580 operating GCCs with a talent pool of 1.66 mn as of 2022. We anticipate that during 2023-2025 period, the GCCs will account for a significant 35–40% of the total office leasing. Moreover, India has been a leader in the growth of GCCs, expected to host over 1,900 GCCs by 2025 with a professional talent pool that exceeds 2 mn.
Of the eight major cities, Pune witnessed the steepest drop in unsold inventory levels. The 10% YoY decline in unsold units, highlights strong housing demand across the city. The reduction in unsold units coincides with a major 13% annual rise in average housing prices. This price growth was driven by substantial launches in the high-end and luxury segments. Key localities like Camp and Baner witnessed significant YoY price increases, ranging between 20-23%.
Nationwide, market rentals across Grade A spaces continued to increase, nearing the INR 100 per square feet milestone, with an 8.7% QoQ increase in Q1 CY 2024. The disparity between market and existing rental rates expanded to approximately 14%, signalling a robust landlord-centric market environment. Specifically, Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad experienced an uptick in rental rates during Q1 CY’24 compared to the preceding quarter.
With global corporates increasingly seeking to optimize resources, maximize savings, and drive growth, India offers a compelling proposition. During Q1 2024, India continued to witness traction in GCC leasing activity. A significant 5 million square feet (msf) of leasing activity by GCCs, represented 37% of total office leasing across the top six cities. Looking ahead, GCCs are projected to lease between 45-50 msf of office space in the next two years, constituting around 40% of total demand.
Absorption of office spaces increased to 13.40 Mn sq ft in Q1 2024 from 11.85 Mn sq ft in Q1 2023, showcasing a 13% increase Y-O-Y, says a Vestian report. However, the absorption declined by 31% this quarter after peaking in Q4 2023. Southern cities (Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad) accounted for 61% of the Pan-India absorption in Q1 2024 its share increased from 54% a year earlier.
Third-party logistics players (3PL) continued to be the top occupiers of industrial and warehousing space, contributing to over 40% in the total warehousing demand. 3PL space uptake was driven by healthy activity in Chennai particularly. The city accounted for about 43% of the overall 3PL activity in the top five cities. Interestingly, at the Pan-India level, retail players accounted for 16% of the demand during the quarter, followed by engineering and automobile players with 12% share each.
Despite an increase in the share of commercial investments to 42% in Q1 2024 from 39% a year earlier, they declined by 52% in value terms. Similarly, the share of residential investments also increased to 41% in Q1 2024 from 27% in Q1 2023. However, investments declined by 33% annually in value terms. Investments significantly decreased by 73% in the industrial and warehousing sector in Q1 2024 over the previous year.