Real estate developers sealed 87 land deals for 1,862 acre in FY23: Anarock

New Delhi: Real estate developers remained bullish on land acquisition, closing 87 land deals accounting for over 1,862 acresin fiscal year 2022-23, according to data from Anarock. This is a significant increase from the 44 deals for approximately 1,649 acre closed in FY22.

Last year, the majority of the transactions, about 76 deals for approximately 1,059 acre, were made in the top seven cities, while the remaining 11 deals for approximately 803 acre were in tier-two and tier-three cities.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) topped the list with 25 deals for 267 acre, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) with 23 deals for approximately 274 acre. Chennai saw the highest total land area transacted with approximately 292 acre changing hands in nine separate deals among the top seven cities.

Of the 87 land deals in FY23, 57 separate transactions accounting for over 951 acre are proposed for residential or plotted development. MMR saw the most with 19 acquisitions proposed for residential or plotted developments accounting for approximately 193 acre, followed by NCR with nine deals for approximately 192 acre and Chennai with seven separate land deals for approximately 194 acre.

In addition, the data reveals 11 separate transactions for approximately 46.5 acre earmarked for commercial and retail developments, with nine deals accounting for approximately 38 acre closed in NCR. Eight separate land deals for approximately 714 acre have been earmarked for mixed-use and township developments, while three separate deals accounting for approximately 83 acre were closed for data centres. Two deals for over 13 acre were also closed for warehousing and industrial developments.

“Leading players are pulling out all the stops to secure the best land parcels in key locations,” said Anuj Puri, Chairman of Anarock Group. “With residential sales in the top seven cities scaling an all-time high in the last financial year, large and listed developers have been cashing in on the unrelenting housing boom.”

The Anarock data suggests that smaller plots were closed in FY23, leading to only a 13% increase in terms of area transacted. With land becoming scarcer amid unfettered real estate development boom, developers are making strategic land investments across prominent micro-markets.