'Realty mkt sees 28 land deals comprising over 1,200 acres so far this yr'

Real estate market has witnessed at least 28 land deals, including outright purchases and joint ventures, so far this year comprising over 1,200 acres, according to property consultant Anarock.

The consultant noted that the appetite for land acquisition continues unabated for developers and other entities in the post-COVID world.

Anarock highlighted that developers are eyeing prime land at key locations across India for future developments across real estate asset classes.

"In comparison to H1 2021, the number of deals has doubled from 14 deals in H1 2021 to 28 deals between January 2022 till date," Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri said.

As expected, he said residential development remains the prime focus, given the robust housing demand despite a hike in interest rate and property prices.

Since the beginning of this year, Anarock said that various entities sealed at least 28 separate land deals cumulatively accounting for over 1,237 acres across the country.

Of the total transacted land, at least 18 deals accounting for 351 acres are earmarked for multiple residential projects across cities.

At least 3 deals for over 115 acres are proposed for data centres, while two deals for over 63 acres are for logistics and warehousing projects.

At least four deals for over 108 acres are for mixed-use developments.

"A single, currently anonymous land deal for 600 acres has taken place in Hyderabad," Anarock said.

Hyderabad market remained highly active in the period, with the most land transactions. The city witnessed five separate deals for 715 acres.

Bengaluru saw three separate deals for a total of 140 acres earmarked for residential, mixed-use, and logistics developments Delhi-NCR also sealed 5 separate deals involving 106.3 acres.

This includes 2 deals for a total of 91 acres in Gurugram, and one deal each in Delhi, Faridabad and Noida.

The proposed developments include residential, mixed-use and warehousing

Pune saw five separate deals for over 91.1 acres of land.

Land-starved MMR saw 5 deals involving 54.85 acres, all earmarked for residential developments.

Chennai witnessed one deal for 5.5 acres where a mixed-use development has been proposed.

Tier 2 & 3 cities with major land deals included Ahmedabad (2 deals for over 6 acres), Nagpur (1 deal for over 58 acres), and Sonipat (1 deal for over 50 acres), Anarock said.

The leading developers and entities who bought land parcels for residential developments include Godrej Properties, Oberoi Realty, Mahindra LifeSpaces, Gaurs Group, Birla Estates, Hetero Group, Microsoft, and Mapletree Logistics, among others.