Knight Frank India’s flagship half-yearly report – India Real Estate 
presents a comprehensive analysis of the residential and office market performance of the NCR market for the period between January–June 2015.
Residential Takeaways:-
- NCR realty blues! New launches drop by a stunning 68% in H1 2015
- Policy fallacies and project delays hit NCR’s real estate appetite; what are the stakeholders thinking? Sales drop by a whopping 50% yoy
- Muted sales lead to price stagnation; is a possible correction around the corner? Knight Frank estimates sales to plug around 15,000 units in the coming two quarters
- Gurgaon’s new found love – Affordable homes; witnesses 91% of new launches under the INR 2.5 mn bracket
Office Takeaways:-
- NCR maintains the 2014 turnaround story! Office absorption touches 3.7 mn sq ft in H1 2015
- Small-size transactions dominate NCR’s office leasing activity; transactions in the range of 5,000 – 12,500 sq ft make deeper inroads
- E-commerce majors account for 16% of the half-yearly abortion – Snapdeal, Zomato, Lenskart among the major occupiers in H1 2015
- Gurgaon witnesses maximum number of office deals (within NCR) in H1 2015; DLF Cyber City maintains its prominence while Golf Course Road & Golf Course extension emerge as the next most preferred office locations
- Office leasing to hold steady in the second half of 2015; Pent-up completions to pump in 5-6 million square feet in the market
Speaking on the findings, Rajeev Bairathi – Executive Director, North and Capital Markets, Knight Frank India said “The commercial segment continued to pick up further momentum on the back of large requirements from Corporate Occupiers. This has led to vacancy levels going below 10% in some of the key micro markets resulting into an upward pressure on lease rentals. The weighted average rentals in NCR are forecasted to inch upwards by an average of 3% to 5% from H1 2015, while quality office spaces in PBD Gurgaon’s Zone A and B will continue to see rental appreciation owing to their primacy and locational advantage, which will appeal to occupiers looking for good quality office spaces. We expect this trend to continue as the occupier sentiment improves with the improvement of broad macro indicators in the economy leading to a further upward pressure on rentals”.
Also adding on the residential findings, Mudassir Zaidi – National Director, Residential Agency, Knight Frank India said “The realty market in NCR will continue to remain muted in the second half of 2015. However, the sales volume in H1 2015 has shown an increase of 18% from the bottomed H2 2014. Taking cognizance of the market, developers will keep new launches in check in the second half of 2015. We estimate new launches to stay below 20,000 units in the second half, with stagnation in the weighted average prices. The delays in projects have made buyers cautious of defaulting developers. Until they are fully convinced, the buyer will continue to assess the project and the developer before purchasing the property, and this is where the developer’s brand and credibility will come into play.”
Knight Frank is the leading independent global property consultancy. Headquartered in London, Knight Frank and its New York-based global partner, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, operate from 370 offices, in 55 countries, across six continents. More than 12,000 professionals handle in excess of US$1 trillion (£643 billion) worth of commercial, agricultural and residential real estate annually, advising clients ranging from individual owners and buyers to major developers, investors and corporate tenants.
In India, Knight Frank is headquartered in Mumbai and has more than 1000 experts across Bangalore, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. Backed by strong research and analytics our experts work with clients to offer a comprehensive range of real estate services across advisory, valuation and consulting; transactions (residential, commercial, retail, hospitality, land, capitals); facilities management; and project management.
