India’s biggest real estate developer sold all the luxury apartments on offer in a 72 billion rupees ($865 million) project near the capital New Delhi, even before starting construction.
DLF Ltd. sold 1,113 luxury residences in Gurugram in just three days, with a quarter bought by non-resident Indians. All four-bedroom and penthouse units were sold out across seven towers in the DLF Privana South project, the developer said in an exchange filing. The apartment complex is spread over 116 acres in the satellite city that’s home to multinationals including Google and American Express.
DLF shares have more than doubled in the past year, to the highest level since 2008, outpacing an 18% rise in the benchmark BSE Sensex index.
Expensive apartments have been flying off the shelves in India as the well-off splurge on everything from luxury cars to pricey homes with rising income levels in one of the fastest growing major economies in the world. The seemingly insatiable demand for premium apartments has prompted builders to launch more such projects in key cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
The luxury boom will run for another couple of years, said Gulam Zia, senior executive director at real estate broker and consultant Knight Frank. “It is not just the top end of the pyramid but also the upper middle class buying these projects.”
DLF managed to sell the apartments swiftly despite measures to discourage bulk bookings, including limiting allotments to one unit for each buyer and raising the booking amount to five times the industry standard.
Last year, DLF similarly sold more than 1,100 apartments worth about $1 billion in just three days. Godrej Properties Ltd., another top developer, also sold out luxury homes worth more than $500 million in projects near the capital, and announced plans to develop more.
