Land ahoy: Will the buying craze continue in FY25?

livemint.com:

Mint explains what to expect this fiscal: Land deals were down to a trickle before the pandemic in 2020, when the residential sector witnessed a prolonged slowdown. Since 2021, transactions have seen a steady rise, reaching a peak in 2023, mainly led by the residential sector, warehousing and logistics. The spurt in home sales led to more liquidity among developers, who are building a supply pipeline by investing in acquisition of land across the top tier cities.

Around 97 land transactions for over 2,700 acres were recorded in 2023, compared to 2,500 acres across 82 deals in the preceding year, according to Anarock Property Consultants. Top developers are preferring to buy land given their ability to raise capital from the public markets and healthy cashflow. Godrej Properties and Prestige Group are buying land to enter new property markets and in cities they already operate in.

Regional developers, who have seen good sales traction, are also in the fray to acquire land. Bengaluru, Hyderabad, NCR have seen multiple land deals this year. Developers are looking at both smaller land parcels for premium projects as well as bigger parcels for large format developments.

The joint development route, which is less capital intensive is in vogue, too. The general elections, which will be held in phases starting this month, may slow down and acquisitions during the June quarter. Typically, project approvals as well as construction in real estate projects slow down during the polling season, and land deals are no exception.