Housing sales down 1-2% in Jan-June in seven major cities

New Delhi: Housing sales fell by 1-2 percent in the seven major cities during the first half of this year, while supply increased by 10 percent over the preceding six months, according to property consultant CBRE.

"Overall, housing demand across the key cities witnessed a dip of 1-2 per cent, while the overall supply saw an increase of approximately 10 per cent over that of H2 2015," CBRE said in a statement.

These top seven cities are Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru.

Bangalore, Mumbai and NCR accounted for 55 per cent of the total sales, according to CBRE India's latest report on the residential real estate market for H1, 2016. This was primarily due to sustained buyer interest and a stable market conditions.

Home buyer demand remained concentrated in the mid-end/ high-end segments in H1 2016, with limited sales reported in the premium/luxury segments across all major cities.

"Over the next few months, the residential market would continue to witness stable demand activity amidst cautious buyer sentiment across most of the tier-I cities in India," said AS Sivaramakrishnan, Head ? Residential Services, CBRE South Asia.

The southern cities, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore, would continue to observe positive traction in housing sales on the back of flexible pricing, easy payment options, quality construction, appropriate sizes and projects in prime locations offered by developers, he added.

"Demand in both Delhi NCR and Mumbai is likely to remain subdued owing to high price points, inventory pressures and cautious home buyer approach," he said.

There was a clear lack of any uniform trend across the country, highlighting, varying demand?supply dynamics across markets and geographies, the consultant said.