The Hyderabad housing sector made a major comeback in Q3 2020, in spite of the escalating pressures of Covid-19 throughout the country, with new housing supplies growing by 45 per cent compared to pre-COVID-19 (Q1 2020) levels, above other cities in the country.

In the third quarter of 2020 (July-September), the city saw the addition of around 4,900 units. According to Property Consultants, some 88 percent new supply was introduced in the sub Rs 80 lakh price bracket.

Sources in the industry indicate that Hyderabad's formal economy has been among the most resilient in urban India and has resumed stability after the rules on lock-down have lifted, as one of the first cities to resume economic activity. In the third quarter, Hyderabad achieved housing supply growth to 45%, but in the timeframe, Kolkata and NCR respectively saw their new supply rise by 24% and 10%.

New launches across India's top seven cities resulted in the third quarter to 32,530 units, down from 41,220 units in Q1 2020, to more than 79 percent of the pace of pre-COVID-19 quarter. The total of 72 percent share of total new supply in the July / September (approximately 23,290 units) is for Pan-India 's affordable and medium segments (priced up to Rs 80 Lakh).

Housing Sector Growth Post COVID19

In the third quarter, not only the country's new housing supply was affected but also sales. In Q3 2020, the top seven cities saw sales of approximately 29,520 units as compared to 45.,00 units, connected to 65% of Q12020 pre-COVID-19. Sales were however considerably higher than in the previous quarter, Q2, 2020, when the pandemic of coronaviruses limited sales to only 12,730 units.

Anarock research data indicate that Hyderabad saw 1,650 units sold at a sales volume of 62 percent of pre-COVID levels in Q3 2020 compared with 2,680 units in Q1 2020. Recent studies show that low inventory sales in the city, coupled with sales increases in the second quarter of 2020, have allowed top developers to keep base residential unit prices unchanged. Most of the developers explored new technology options to make home purchases in Hyderabad simple while home buyers have started site visits.

In the country's leading cities, unsold inventory declined by around 3 % per year from 6.56 lakh units in the third quarter of 2019 to 6.36 lakh units in the third quarter of 2020. Between Q1 2020 and Q3 2020, research indicates it reduced by one percent with 6.44 lakh units.

Property experts suggest that the expansion of offices and flexible policies on work from home would boost housing demand on the outskirts of the city. The demand for large township developments would, therefore be higher. In the west Hyderabad, which is well connected and contains enough contiguous land parcels to accommodate integrated townships, is a promising area for future growth.

By: Shailaja K