Mumbai may be second to Delhi in unsold homes, but it will take longer to sell them. Real estate developers in the financial capital must wait over three years to clear 1.13 lakh units or 120 million sq ft as high prices deter potential buyers, shows a study released by Liases Foras, a real estate rating and research consultant.

The study covers units in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) — including Mumbai city, Thane, Kalyan and Navi Mumbai — National Capital Region in Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. NCR, with 232.57 million square feet or 1.60 lakh units of unsold homes — roughly double Mumbai’s —will likely sell homes much faster, in 23 months.

“The NCR market is primarily an investor market and has very little comparison with Mumbai,” says Om Ahuja, chief executive officer (residential services) at Jones Lang LaSalle India. “The real estate market in areas like Gurgaon or Noida attracts a lot of money from neighbouring states like Punjab, UP and Delhi as people invest in residential properties.” Among the six metros, Pune homes will be sold the fastest, taking just 14 months to sell its 43.06 m sq ft at the current pace of buying. A steep rise in interest rates in the last 18 months was seen as the key reason for low sales as buyers try to avoid high home loan instalments.

The Reserve Bank of India cut key rates by 50 basis points last month, forcing lenders to lower their retail lending rates which could push sales.