Mumbai realty robust despite small fall in flat sales in February

Mumbai's real estate market continues to be robust despite a minor blip in February when flat sales clocked a 2.40% decline, a leading industry body said.

The city reported a marginal decline in flat registrations at 16,341 in February as against 16,743 registrations in the year-ago period, data from the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) showed.

"There has been no sharp decline in Mumbai's real estate market-there has only been a marginal decline in sales figures of residential apartments," MCHI said in a statement here.

The decline in flat sales in the first two months of this year is not severe, MCHI's president Sunil Mantri said, admitting, however, to a small dip in the same during the period.

"Although it is a fact that flat sales did decline in the first two-months of the current year, the extent of fall is not that severe as is being made out to be by some," Mantri said.

In 2010 (January-December), Mumbai clocked a total registration of 2,17,466 as compared to 1,94,885 in the previous year, MCHI data showed. 

April 2010 topped the number of registrations by recording the highest 20,739 registrations as compared to 15,330 in the previous year, followed by July at 19,880 (18,583), March at 19,452 (15,002) and June at 19,154 (17,418).

On the overall trend in the Mumbai real estate market, Mantri said the "marginal drop in the flat registrations or sales could be attributed to various factors that include severe crunch of sand in the recent past, pending policy decisions from the govenment of Maharashtra on carpet area, parking, and clearance of new projects by the BMC."

Sentiment in the realty market also remains affected by the increase in stamp duty and ready reckoner by the State Government this year, he added. Neighbouring Thane city in February clocked 16,164 registrations as against 16,395 in the year-ago period, a decline of only 1.41%.

Thane city recorded the highest flat registrations at 20,121 in March 2010 followed by 19,569 in December 2010, MCHI data said.