Economic Survey quotes PropTiger data on unsold inventory

Unsold inventory stood at 8.5 lakh at the end of 2022, with 80% of the stocks under various stages of construction, the Survey says, quoting PropTiger.,

Unsold housing stock in India’s mega housing markets has declined significantly due to strong sales momentum, driven by robust demand for housing, says the Economic Survey 2022-23.  Unsold inventory stood at 8.5 lakh at the end of 2022, with 80% of the stocks under various stages of construction, the Survey says, quoting PropTiger.

Citing PropTiger data, the Survey, tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha on January 31, 2023, also adds that inventory overhang declined to 33 months during the October-December period of 2022 from 42 months in the same period last year. 

For the uninitiated, inventory overhang is the estimated time developers are likely to take to sell off their existing stock factoring in the current sales velocity.

A screenshot of the PropTiger data as shown in the PDF format of the Economic Survey 202223

“The unsold inventory stood at 8.5 lakh at the end of 2022, with 80% of the stocks under various stages of construction. This comes on the back of sustained sales momentum as the sector steadily recovers from the impact of the pandemic,” says the Survey.

“The improvement in sales in 2022 has been instrumental in lowering the inventory burden for India’s real estate developers. Consequently, inventory overhang — the estimated time builders would take to sell off the existing unsold stock, based on the current sales velocity— has now declined to 33 months as compared to 42 months in 2021. The inventory overhang is the lowest since 2020,” PropTiger said in its quarterly report released in December 2022.

“Going forward, the recent government measures, such as the reduction in import duties on steel products, iron ore, and steel intermediaries, will cool off the construction cost and help to check the rise in housing prices,” says the Survey.