Green Shoots Emerge In India's West

Combined efforts of all related parties seem to be yielding the desired result. According to the PropTiger DataLabs April report, new unit launches in the western region grew 27 per cent over the previous month. This is certainly a good sign for a market which had witnessed a steep decline in the new launches for many quarters now; the annual figures of the financial year 2015-16 indicate a steeper free fall.

For the western region, the report, named Monthly Realty Watch-West India-May 2016, takes into account the property markets of Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Pune.

Why Mumbai may be up for revival?

The real estate market of Mumbai — which has failed to show any bright spots for several quarters now — may be up for a turnaround, as India's financial capital accounted for 82 per cent of the total new launches in west India in April. Major developers that launched projects in the city include Mahindra Lifespace, Kalpataru, Oyster Living, Nadivardhan Group and Platinum Developer. New properties in the city range between Rs 2,621 and Rs 32,000 per sq ft. For a market that is exorbitantly priced, property rates, however, remained range-bound. In fact, the commercial hub of Worli in south Mumbai experienced a price fall of 10 per cent year-on-year (YoY) .

Why Pune is buyers' den?

When markets across the country registered an uninspiring performance in terms of price appreciation, Pune real estate defied the trend. Ranging between two and 10 per cent, property prices saw a marginal increase across localities in April. The Viman Nagar locality remained the best performer and registered a 10 per cent increase in prices in April YoY. Developers that launched projects in the city include DSP Developers, Somani Realty and Wadhwani Developers, with prices ranging between Rs 4,200 and Rs 4,950 per sq ft.

Also, the Pune Municipal Corporation plans to offer a discount of five per cent on development charges to builders for using recycled building material supplied by the civic body. This would go a long way in maintaining the clean image Pune is known for.

The twist in the Ahmedabad story

The property market in Ahmedabad shows contradictory trends. While sales have taken a hit, property prices went soaring in April. In fact, some localities in this Gujarat city saw a price appreciation in the range of 12 and 17 per cent YoY, while the city saw an overall price appreciation of five per cent. On the other hand, Aroma Realties was the only developer that launched a project in the city in April. On limited inventory, property prices in the city may spiral upwards.