Market Trends In 2015: Slow Price Growth In Delhi-NCR

The real estate market in Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region) has seen some significant changes in the past few years. But this year, property rates have moved very little here, thanks mainly to muted demand. By comparison, the newer markets that have come up in recent years have seen more activity.

Here is a snapshot of the latest property trends in the national capital's market.

Property rates & appreciation
In the April-June quarter of this year, property prices in Delhi-NCR grew only one per cent over the previous three-month period. In fact, some pockets even witnessed some correction in prices. The best performer in the region in terms of rates was Gurgaon, where at least five areas saw prices growing between one and two per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis. While rates in DLF City Phase-I grew three per cent, those along the Dwarka Manesar Expressway dropped three per cent during the quarter.

In Noida, property prices were relatively stable, with only National Highway 24 witnessing a price decline, of three per cent sequentially. The property rates in Greater Noida West grew two per cent, while those in Noida Extension were up one per cent. Other pockets saw marginal or no change in prices.

Meanwhile, many areas in the Delhi region saw marginal decline – for example, Dwarka, the properties near Akshardham Temple, and the Commonwealth Games Village, saw a correction of up to three per cent.

Unsold inventory

While there has been a rise in inventory build-up across the country, its extent in the Delhi-NCR market has been higher. With about 100,000 unsold units, Noida has the highest inventory in the region. About 24 per cent of these unsold units are more than three years old. Similarly, Gurgaon has about 22,000 unsold units, most of which are one to two years old.

Second-hand market

The resale market, too, is adding a large number of units to the system. Again, most of these are either in Noida or Gurgaon. A number of homes being resold now are those taken in 2008-09 by investors, who were holding on in the hope of a significant price jump. Some are now selling these property units, with decent returns, to raise cash for investments in safer and more lucrative areas like Dwarka and E-way.

If you are looking to purchase resale property, Noida and Gurgaon are where you could currently get good deals – you could get rates and conditions better than those of new units.

New & affordable hotspots

A bright spot in the Delhi-NCR market are the newer hotspots that are developing fast, indicating there may not be real stagnation yet. There are several affordable upcoming projects in Delhi, especially as a part of a new housing scheme from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which might come up with some 3,000 low-cost apartments in Rohini, Narela and Dwarka. Also, a lot of interest has been generated by private developers – as many as 10,000 such units have been launched by builders like Pivotal Infrastructure, Signature Developers, Supertech and Raheja. Most of these affordable units are in Gurgaon, Sohna and New Gurgaon, and along Dwarka Expressway and National Highway 8.

(Katya Naidu has been working as a business journalist for the last nine years, and has covered beats across banking, pharma, healthcare, telecom, technology, power, infrastructure, shipping and commodities.)