India's Rank Slips to 54th in Terms of Rise in Housing Prices: Report

New Delhi: India’s rank slipped 11 places to 54th in terms of appreciation in residential prices, as housing rates declined nearly 2 per cent during June quarter compared with the year-ago period, according to property consultant Knight Frank. India is at 54th spot amongst the 56 countries and territories tracked in terms of appreciation in residential real estate prices, the consultant said. As per the ‘Global House Price Index Q2 2020’, housing prices in India declined 1.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY). “As compared to Q1 2020, India moves down 11 spots in the global index, from 43rd rank to 54th rank in Q2 2020,” Knight Frank said.

The Index tracks the movement in mainstream residential prices across 56 countries and territories worldwide using official statistics. In the 12-month percentage change for the period Q2 of 2019 to Q2 of 2020, Turkey led the annual rankings with prices up 25.7 per cent YoY, followed by Luxembourg at 13.9 per cent and Lithuania with 12.4 per cent. Hong Kong was the weakest-performing territory in Q2 2020, with home prices falling to 2.8 per cent. “Mainstream residential prices across 56 countries and territories worldwide rose at an annual rate change of 4.7 per cent on average, compared to Q1 2020 at 4.4 per cent,” the consultant said.

According to the report, 9 per cent of the surveyed global countries and territories registered a decline in a yearly price growth. European countries occupy eight of the top 10 rankings in Q2 2020, which provides representations from the Baltic and Central and Eastern European nations as well.

From the Asia Pacific region perspective, New Zealand and South Korea, which were initially seen to have effectively handled the pandemic, have registered mixed results. New Zealand slumped from second to 11th place in the rankings between March and June. However, the country recorded an annual price growth of 9 per cent, making it the top-performing market of the Asia Pacific region. South Korea has seen an annual price growth pick up to 1.3 per cent in Q2 2020.

Knight Frank India CMD Shishir Baijal said: “The residential sector has been impacted by low demand across most markets in India. Further, the slowdown due to the pandemic in the global economy has adversely affected the real estate sector and the purchasing power of homebuyers.” The current softening of prices can be beneficial for the end users to make their purchase decisions, he said, adding that lower home loan interest rate could provide the right motivation for house purchase.