21% Drop in Mumbai’s Real Estate Activity In September - Here's Why

Mumbai’s real estate market saw a sharp drop in property registrations in September 2024. According to data from the Maharashtra Controller of Stamps and Inspector General of Registration, the number of property registrations fell by 19% compared to the same month last year.

The registrations dropped from 10,694 in September 2023 to 9,167 in September 2024. Month-over-month, the decline was even steeper. Property registrations fell by 21% compared to 11,631 registrations in August 2024.

Stamp duty collections also saw a sharp decline. In September 2024, INR 892 crore was collected from property registrations. This marks a 21% drop from INR 1,127 crore collected in September 2023. Collections for August 2024 had reached INR 1,062 crore.

Knight Frank India, a real estate consultancy firm, pointed to the Shraadh period as the reason for the sharp decline in registrations. Shraadh is a traditional time when people avoid making major purchases. In 2024, the festival covered 12 days of September, whereas in 2023, it was observed from September 29 to October 14, which impacted October registrations instead of September.

Even during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in September 2024, property registrations were lower than in the previous year. Knight Frank India data shows that during the festival, only 3,405 properties were registered. This is a 10% drop from the 3,782 registrations recorded during the same period in 2023.

Despite these drops, overall property registrations in Mumbai for the first nine months of 2024 exceeded one lakh, which brought in INR 8,892 crore in revenue for the state. This represents a 6% year-over-year growth in revenue, even though the number of registrations decreased by 12%.

This year, Mumbai hit the milestone of one lakh property registrations faster than at any time in the past decade. In 2023, this benchmark was reached in October, while in 2024, it was achieved in September.

There was also a shift in the size of properties being registered. In September 2024, 52% of registrations were for apartments sized between 500 and 1,000 square feet. Larger apartments, those over 1,000 square feet, made up 22% of registrations. This is an increase from 19% in 2023.

Geographically, the western suburbs continued to account for the majority of registrations, at 57% in both 2023 and 2024. However, South Mumbai saw an increase in registrations. Its share grew from 7% in September 2023 to 10% in September 2024.