Sale of ready homes rise in FY20, overall housing sales fall: Report

A total of 64,386 completed units were sold in FY 2019-20, higher by 19.4 per cent from 53,908 units sold in the previous fiscal.

The total housing sales during the last fiscal stood at 3,22,667 units across nine cities, nearly 11 per cent down from 3,62,021 units sold in the 2018-19 fiscal.

"The share of ready-to-move-in inventory as a percentage of total sales rose to 20 per cent during the 2019-20 financial year as against 15 per cent in the previous fiscal, as per the housing brokerage firm's latest report 'Real Insight Q4' 2020," it said.

In line with expectations, the demand for ready-to-move-in residential properties is growing as customers have become risk averse because of uncertainties involved in the completion of under-construction flats, the report said.

The demand for under-construction apartments dipped to 2,58,281 units in the 2019-20 fiscal from 3,08,113 units in the previous year.

The share of ready-to-move-in residential properties in the overall housing sales is expected to increase and may reach 30 per cent during this fiscal, PropTiger said.

Project delays by multiple builders have shaken buyers' confidence in the property market.

Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, PropTiger.com, said: "Housing demand remained subdued during FY20 because of the slowdown in the country's economic growth. The global outbreak of coronavirus during the January-March quarter added to the woes faced by the Indian real estate sector over the last few years. Housing sales are generally higher in the second half of the fiscal and hence the impact of COVID-19 was more pronounced."

"With under-construction projects likely to be delayed because of the nationwide lockdown, we strongly believe that customers' preference for completed units will further strengthen," he said.