According to a survey in the top cities of India, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Pune and Hyderabad, it was found that the realty industry is in a bad shape, with several million of square feet lying unsold. The total unsold stock across the cities is 728.36 mn sq ft, the maximum in Delhi-NCR region followed by Mumbai and Bangalore.

With the sales declining sharply, developers have been forced to lower the rates of newly launched projects. Few developers have cut down the rates of existing projects, and new ones are priced lower than the existing ones across the country.

The average price of launch across all top cities is lower than the existing price levels. It points out that new launches are at least 16-17 per cent cheaper than existing projects offering similar amenities and located in the same area.

The growing inventory and sluggish sales is that developers have had to reconsider their pricing for newer projects.

Mumbai’s unsold stock amounts to 162.43 million sq feet. In the second quarter of 2013-14, only 8.23 million sq feet of space was sold – for Rs 8,123 crore – while 11.28 million sq feet was launched. In the same quarter last year, real estate worth Rs 9,463 crore was sold.

With sales dipping sharply and supply remaining constant, the amount of unsold space in Mumbai is rising quickly, and stands at 58 months this quarter.

The study states that most unsold space in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, which stretches to Vasai in the western suburbs and Badlapur on the central side, is in deals worth Rs 2.8 crore and above. This category has around 48 million sq feet of unsold space, and is followed by 42 million sq feet unsold in the Rs 1.3 crore to Rs 2.5 crore range.  The lowest stock is in deals below Rs 28 lakh, and stands at 12.1 million sq feet.