DLF set for record home sales of ₹15k cr in FY23
2 min read 16 Mar 2023, 10:58 PM ISTReal estate developer had guided for full-year sales of ₹8,000 crore
PremiumBENGALURU : DLF Ltd, India’s largest real estate developer, is set to post record sales for residential properties at over ₹15,000 crore in 2022-23 far higher than its guidance of ₹8,000 crore for the financial year. It had recorded ₹6,599 crore in bookings in April-December, and expected to close the year at ₹8,000 crore- ₹9,000 crore. Its bookings stood at ₹4,544 crore in the year-ago period.
However, pre-launch sales from ‘The Arbour’, a luxury high-rise project at Sector 63 of Gurugram alone has brought in around ₹8,000 crore in booking, as the demand for high-end housing units by branded developers rose significantly. The 1,137 apartments, which are priced at an average ₹7.5 crore were all sold out within three days of the pre-launch in February.
“We had budgeted ₹2,000 crore- ₹3,000 crore of sales from the pre-launch in January-March quarter...We believe the product, combined with the brand value of DLF created the customer excitement," Aakash Ohri, group chief executive director and chief business officer, DLF, said.
DLF launched the high-end high-rise project in its home market of Gurugram, nearly a decade after it launched ‘The Crest’. Unlike most of its pre-launch events, where buyers typically pay a token ₹5 lakh or ₹10 lakh upfront, people paid the initial 10% and closed the transaction by signing builder-buyer agreements for Arbour, Ohri said.
Luxury housing is booming in India. A record 65,700 luxury housing units were sold last year, thanks to rising disposable incomes and a surge in demand after the covid-19 pandemic, especially, developers say, for spacious apartments with conveniences like concierge services and spas.
This growing demand from consumers wanting to upgrade their homes and splurge more is a key reason why DLF will continue to focus on the luxury housing space, Chief Executive Officer Ashok Kumar Tyagi told Reuters in an interview.
“We’ve been strong in this premium luxury, super luxury segment," he said.
“We’ve sort of made it very transparently clear that we are not into the truly affordable (segment) ... I think it’s a great segment. But it’s just that we don’t find adequate ways of making it profitable for us."
The real estate market in Gurugram has seen a phenomenal post-covid revival, with a sharp rise in both property prices and rental values, as buyers looked to buy high-end apartments in gated communities from established builders. Luxury condominiums, defined as those selling above ₹1.5 crore ($183,000), accounted for 17% of all launches in 2022, an at least five-year high, data from Anarock Property Consultants shows.
DLF launched ‘Arbour’ at ₹18,000 per sq. ft, higher than the current rate of the micro-market of ₹15,000 per sq. ft.
“Demand remains robust in Gurugram, where end-users are buying from a handful of pedigreed developers. Gurugram has gained significantly owing to its physical and social infrastructure, and commercial activity," said Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock Property Consultants.
In 2023-24, DLF has lined up multiple residential project launches, including apartments and independent floors, in Delhi, Chennai, Panchkula and Mohali. Next year, the developer will also return to Mumbai, a property market it had exited many years back to focus on National Capital Region (NCR).
