The year that was and what lies ahead

CW looks back at 2022 – the year that was – and at what lies ahead for the construction sector in 2023.The Year 2023 for RealFor some, the year 2022 so far has been a phenomenal year for the real estate sector, particularly the residential real estate. On the other end, some industry experts consider the year 2022 a push-ahead year, wherein the market moved further ahead from the distress seen in 2020 and the revival seen in 2021.“Interestingly,” Vivek Rathi, Director Research, Knight Frank India, shares, “both housing and commercial segments performed well on sales volume and price fronts. In case of housing, sales in the mid and higher ticket size segments outperformed other segments. Further, suburban, and peripheral locations witnessed increased homebuyer interest on the premise of hybrid work culture. In case of office segment, flexibility in lease arrangements became a key feature and benefitted the co-working segment by a significant measure.” He adds that on the industrial and warehousing front, there has been increased space demand momentum as the China plus one strategy added to the production linked investment (PLI) scheme tailwinds, which benefitted the warehouse sector. “In terms of the headwinds, home loan interest rate increase did impact affordability of home buyers. Whereas in case of capital flows into the Indian real estate sector, global linkage of investors translated into moderation in investment flows.”Going by the current momentum in housing sales and that of the first three quarters this year, Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Group, says, “The year 2022 will likely breach the previous peak of 2014 with all-time high sales across the top seven cities. Latest ANAROCK data projects total sales in the top seven cities to exceed 360,000 units in 2022. In the previous peak year of 2014, the top seven cities saw 343,000 units sold.” He adds, “The January-September period of 2022 saw housing sales and new launches surpass the full-year readings of 2019 with approx. 273,000 units sold in nine months in 2022 and new launches at 265,000 units. The year 2019 saw over 261,000 units sold in the entire year, while new supply stood at 234,000 units.” Besides residential, commercial real estate is also gaining momentum with employees returning to offices.Citing his expectations in the year 2023 and upcoming opportunities, Puri says, “The current sales momentum in the housing sector is likely to continue in the first quarter as well while new launches may remain under control. In 2022 so far, we have seen a hike of almost 190 bps in the repo rates... As a sneak peek into the New Year, CW looks at smart cities, affordable housing, airports, railways and metros, roads and more... To read the full article, CLICK HERE.