BENGALURU: Residential sales across the country in the first quarter of this year is almost back to pre-Covid levels helped by strong sales in cities like Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune and Chennai which have performed better than the three major metros, as per a report from property consultancy JLL.

About 25,583 units were sold in the current quarter, compared to 27,451 in the same period last year, a recovery of 93%. When compared sequentially, sale volumes are up 17% across the seven major cities. Bengaluru had the slowest recovery rate at 57%.

Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad saw sales exceeding that of last year as more people bought properties in the eastern and southern suburbs.

“The buoyancy in the market manifested in the form of low mortgage rates and stable prices are expected to continue and attract fence-sitters and serious end users,” said Siva Krishnan, managing director of residential services at JLL India.

The pandemic has also tilted the scale further in favor of established developers. As the sector shows signs of recovery, prominent developers are expected to be at an advantage and capture a greater share of the market.

Development focus on mid and affordable segments continues in Q1 2021 with 69% of the new launches in the sub INR 10 million categories. Developers continued to focus on mid and affordable segments, that is units priced up to Rs 1 crore.

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