Property launches in H1 drop by 40% in Bengaluru: Knight Frank

The city accounted for the highest number of new launches in the country in H1
Bengaluru, Aug 05, 2015 New property launches in the first half of 2015 has dropped 40 per cent year-on-year in Bengaluru though it continues to be the best performing market in the country, according to Knight Frank, an independent global property consultancy firm. Releasing the third-edition of its half-yearly (January–June 2015) report, BN Satish, Executive Director, Knight Frank said, “Notwithstanding a few hiccups, Bengaluru remains one of the best performing markets in India. Although the residential market did witness, some lows with 40 per cent drop in launches and unsold inventory build-up, we do expect buoyancy in the second half of the year as the office market has shown substantial quantum of absorption and this will have a positive impact on the residential market too.” Bengaluru accounted for the highest number of new launches in H1 2015 at 21,400 units even though it was 40 per cent lesser compared with the same period last year. On the sales front, Satish said, “Bengaluru with 22,234 units has been performing better than the National Capital Region (NCR) which saw sales of 14,250 units and it is slowly closing in on Mumbai where 28,446 units were sold.” Office space Satish said Bengaluru’s office market continues to be bullish in its demand while new completions face constriction and rents are expected to increase by 6 per cent during the next six months. “However, dearth of ready-to-occupy office space is a concern as it is unable to catch up with the quantum of demand, and the depletion impacting on the interests of potential occupiers with large space requirements,” he added. The city witnessed a gradual decline in IT/ITeS dominance in office space absorption. The new emerging services sectors like e-commerce has come to the forefront, said Satish. “In the H1 few big ticket transactions led the city to account for the largest deal sizes in the country,” he added. Impending construction of the Metro Rail project is to have a short-term adverse impact on Whitefield. “While untapped northern corridor like Thanisandra and Nagawara holds potential for office demand owing to residential traction, improved infrastructure, lower rentals and good connectivity to CBD,” he added.