Sales of luxury flats, priced above Rs 1.5 crore, stood at 25,680 units across seven major cities during January-June 2022 and have surpassed sales in each of the last three years, according to Anarock.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) contributed more than 50 per cent of the total luxury housing sales in the first half of this year.
Property consultant Anarock said the luxury housing segment has performed "remarkably well" this year.
As per the data, sales of luxury homes were 25,680 units during January-June 2022, which is higher than 21,700 luxury flats sold in the entire 2021 calendar year across seven major cities --Delhi-NCR, MMR, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabd, Chennai and Kolkata. In full 2020, sales of luxury apartments fell to 8,470 units from 17,740 units in 2019 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"There are four-five reasons for sharp rise in sales of luxury homes. First, there have been completion of many luxury residential projects this year. The demand for ready-to-move in units was higher as customers wanted to shift immediately," Ananrock Chairman Anuj Puri told PTI.
Further, he said the high net worth individuals (HNIs) have made money during the pandemic from stock market which they are investing in real estate now.
"Joint families have realised during the pandemic the need for larger spaces and that too immediately. This is also one of the major demand drivers," Puri said.
The consultant also noted that housing prices have risen after the second wave of the pandemic. "Prices are still at reasonable level. Prospective buyers feel that rates may go up further, so they are buying now". Lastly, NRIs (non-resident Indians) have also been snapping up luxury homes in India because of the favourable exchange rate," he added.
Anarock data suggests that share of luxury homes in the overall housing sales of 1.84 lakh units across the seven cities rose to 14 per cent during the first six months of 2022.
If compared with the pre-pandemic year of 2019, the share of luxury homes in the total sales was just 7 per cent.
Mukesh Singh, Director - Sales, Kalpataru Ltd, said: "With the onset of the pandemic, buyers are looking for homes that provide luxury amenities. Consumers are looking to buy bigger and luxurious homes from renowned developers who have a robust track record of executing projects on time." The data showed that luxury homes sales in Delhi-NCR stood at 4,160 units in January-June this year. Sales were 1,680 units in 2019, 700 units in 2020 and 2,520 units in 2021 in Delhi-NCR.
The MMR saw sales of 13,670 units in the first six months of 2022. The city witnessed sales of 10,210 units in 2019, 5,840 units in 2020 and 13,720 units in 2021.