<div><span style="line-height: 1.4;">The number of new home launches declined by 21 per cent to 34,600 units during the July-September period in India's eight major cities as property market continues to witness a slowdown and a large number of housing stocks remain unsold.</span></div><div> </div><div>Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bangalore witnessed launch of 43,800 housing units in the year-ago period, according to property consultant Cushman & Wakefield.</div><div> </div><div>"Unit launches decreased as developers focused on completing existing projects (in the wake of significant unsold inventory) and delayed new launches awaiting an increase in demand," C&W said in a statement.</div><div> </div><div>During the third quarter of 2014, 166 new housing projects were launched across these eight cities, with Chennai recording the highest with 45 projects and Ahmedabad reporting the lowest number of new launches of 5 projects.</div><div> </div><div>City-wise, Ahmedabad witnessed the maximum fall of 62 per cent in the launches of new homes. Only 800 housing units were launched during July-September 2014 as against 2,100 units in the year-ago period.</div><div> </div><div>After Ahmedabad, Delhi-NCR saw a decline of 54 per cent in new residential launches of about 4,500 units as compared to 9,700 units the same time last year. Bangalore saw a fall of 27 per cent and Mumbai 11 per cent.</div><div> </div><div>However, the launches of new homes increased in Kolkata, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad on expectation of improvement in housing demand.</div><div> </div><div>"Kolkata saw a significant rise in the new launches in the quarter over same time last year. With 2,300 unit launches, market activity improved by around 28 per cent from the previous year," C&W said, adding that Pune also experienced a growth in total units launched of about 18 per cent due to festive season demand.</div><div> </div><div>New home launches increased by 7 per cent and 5 per cent in Chennai and Hyderabad, respectively.</div><div> </div><div>Segment-wise, the consultant said that sharpest decline in launches was recorded in the affordable segment, which declined by 52 per cent in Q3 2014 as against Q3 2013.</div><div> </div><div>Commenting on the report, C&W India Executive Director (Residential Services) Shveta Jain said: "Supply outstrips demand in most of these cities due to weak market sentiments and slower growth rate in sales due to which new launches have remained checked." </div><div> </div><div>"There is a conscious effort by developers to keep the number units low thereby making smaller sized projects to help them deliver on time and meet the expectations of the purchasers. This in turn has been instrumental in keeping the prices stable in the market allowing the market to remain positive," she added.</div><div> </div><div>(PTI)</div>
