168mn sq ft unsold in Mumbai Metropolitan Region

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 Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has an unsold inventory of 168 million sq ft. These apartments will take 45 months to sell, a large time lag considering it should not take more than eight months to a year. The data comes from the latest Liases Foras report released on Thursday . "This huge unsold inventory is a clear indication that buyers cannot afford high property rates,'' said Pankaj Kapoor, head of this real estate research firm. MMR comprises Mumbai, Dahisar to Virar, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Dombivli, Kalyan and Diva as the main centres. The weighted average price in MMR is Rs 13,012 a sq ft, which was hovering around Rs 12,748 a sq ft in the last quarter. The report also revealed that sales dipped by a marginal 2% from the last quarter. Most new projects launched in the present quarter had a price tag of over Rs 2 crore for an apartment. "We predict prolonged inefficiency, prices have to reduce for demand to increase. Sales won't improve till prices reduce,'' said Kapoor. Earlier, prices increased 7-8% per quarter. "This is not happening now. It's a stagnant situation,'' he added. "The year 2014-15 began on a rather muted note with a 9% sequential decline in area sales across six major cities in India. With an exception of Bangalore, all tier I cities have shown a drop in sales. The city registered a 10% growth in sales for the quarter,'' said the report. NCR led with a 20% decline, followed by Chennai and Hyderabad with 18% and 13%. MMR, however, was almost stagnant with a meagre 2% drop in sales. For the first quarter of 2014-15, sales in Bangalore have been the highest, followed by NCR and Pune. "Most sales in the city can be attributable to new launches in peripheral regions. But the performance in the secondary market has been average in the city,'' it added. The cost range for new launches has been fragmented across the cities. In NCR and Pune it has been the affordable segment, while in Bangalore it has been the mid-segment. At the same time, MMR showed increased level of activity in the affordable and ultra-luxury segment.