In a report released by PropEquity, India’s leading real estate data, research and analytics firm, sales or absorption fell by a massive 58% as India witnessed the major brunt of the COVID second wave in April and May. Stringent lockdown across major cities in India impacted housing sales as home registrations were also suspended including slow pace of home loan disbursals. Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, MMR, NCR and Pune are the cities where home sales witnessed a fall in Q2 2021 versus Q1 2021 at 55%, 59%, 49%, 57%, 63%, 43%, and 62% respectively. Also, the new supply or new launches of housing units decreased by 54% in the same period to 34,053 units from Q1 2021 at 74,196 units. Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, MMR, NCR & Pune are the cities where 65%, 66%, 65%, 30%, 52%, 55%, and 38% respectively. However, sales or absorption of housing units were up by 51% across top 7 cities in India in the second quarter of 2021 to 45,208 units versus 29,942 units in Q2 2020. Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, MMR, NCR & Pune are the cities where home sales witnessed a jump by 33%, 65%, 138%, 14%, 38%, 98%, and 39%. “These are unprecedented times for the world economy and India is one of the hardest hit countries due to COVID-19 epidemic. Real estate sector which was slowly recovering by March was hit with the second wave. Going ahead, we may witness resizing of units, marketing-led discounts, amenities and special payment schemes to be offered by developers to boost demand, especially during the beginning of the festive season,” Mr Samir Jasuja, founder and managing director at PropEquity said.Media Indicators (Top 7 regions)Inventory Q1 21 Q2 21 Q1 21 VS Q2 21Opening Stock 7779821 745597 -90%New Launched 74,196 34,053 -54%Total Absorption 108420 45,208 -58%Unsold Units 745597 734442 -1% Cities Snapshot: Bengaluru - India’s IT capital saw a downfall of 55% in home sales in Q2 2021 at 5,487. New Launches decreased by 65% at 3,203 units. Chennai - Chennai saw a 59% downfall in home sales in Q2 2021 and new launches down by 66% to 1,440 units. Hyderabad - Home sales witnessed a decrease of 49% in Q2 2021 at 1,603 units with new launches down by 65% to 5,016 units. Kolkata - Surprisingly, Kolkata saw a decrease of 63% in home sales in Q2 2021 at 1,603 units with new launches down by 30% to 1,111 units. MMR - The City of Dreams saw a decrease of 63% in home sales in the second quarter at 15,562 units, whereas new launches declined by 52% to 11,515 units. NCR - Delhi NCR witnessed downfall in both home sales and new launches by 43% and 55% respectively in Q2 2021. Pune - Pune witnessed a downfall of 58% in sales or absorption and decrease of 54% in new launches at 34,053 units in Q2 2021.