New Delhi, March 6 (IANS): Residential real estate recorded another fresh high in 3QFY24, with pre-sales of 301 mn sq. ft up 26 per cent year on year crossing the previous peak of 259 mn sq. ft in 2QFY24, as per Kotak Institutional Equities.

Pricing momentum was robust, with average realisations at Rs 7,609/sq. ft with Gurugram and Bengaluru seeing larger increases.

Hyderabad (53 per cent YoY) and MMR (28 per cent yoy) led the sales growth, followed by Bengaluru (19 per cent YoY) and NCR (12 per cent YoY).

All-India residential sales for 3QFY24 stood at 301 mn sq. ft (26 per cent YoY, 16 per cent QoQ), with 9MFY24 sales at 797 mn sq. ft (24 per cent YoY) -- this puts the sector in a good position to cross the 1 bn sq. ft-mark for full-year FY2024E, the brokerage said.

The demand in 3QFY24 was led by Hyderabad that saw sales of 55.9 mn sq. ft followed by MMR, Bengaluru, and NCR.

A survey by FICCI-ANAROCK found that 50 per cent of homebuyers prefer larger homes. The survey found that the highest homebuyer demand is now for 3BHKs, with at least 50 per cent respondents picking this size. 38 per cent respondent favour 2BHKs. The demand for 3BHKs stood at 42 per cent in in the H2 2022 edition of the survey.

Despite increasing property prices, the demand for bigger apartments continues unabated and is, in fact, increasing. 3BHKs are particularly in vogue in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Delhi-NCR. In hyper-pricey MMR, 44 per cent of respondents preferred 2BHKs. The demand for 1BHK units is being primarily evident in the western markets of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (17 per cent) and Pune (10 per cent).