Despite a weak Q1 earnings season, analysts remain bullish on real estate stocks driven by low inventory, robust pre-sales guidance, and strong REIT leasing momentum. According to reports from The Economic Times, brokerages like Kotak Securities and Ambit Capital recommend top picks including DLF, Sobha, Lodha, and key commercial REITs for long-term gains. The Nifty Realty index has overall declined more than 2% in the past one month, closing at 907.95 on Thursday. However, individual stock performance showed mixed results with Brigade Enterprises shares rallying 7%, while Aditya Birla Real Estate, Sobha, Lodha, DLF and other stocks gained up to 4%. In an interaction with ETMarkets, industry experts continue to highlight the sector's potential despite current market fluctuations.
India's 28 major listed real estate firms saw their collective sales bookings fall 21% to ₹39,964 crore in Q1 FY27, compared to ₹50,900 crore in the year-ago period, according to data compiled from investor presentations. Godrej Properties emerged as the largest listed real estate developer in terms of sales bookings, selling properties worth ₹8,651 crore in the June quarter against ₹7,082 crore in the year-ago period. Bengaluru-based Prestige Estates Projects Ltd secured the second position with sales bookings of ₹6,579.3 crore, while Mumbai-based Lodha Developers' pre-sales rose to ₹4,630 crore from ₹4,450 crore. However, DLF Ltd, India's largest realty firm by market capitalisation, saw sales bookings plunge to just ₹657 crore from ₹11,425 crore as the company did not launch any project in Q1 FY27. Out of 28 companies, 19 developers reported growth in pre-sales, including Godrej Properties, Lodha, Sobha, Max Estates, Puravankara, Kalpataru, Embassy Developments, Mahindra Lifespace, Raymond Realty, Sunteck Realty, Kolte-Patil, Shriram Properties, Ajmera Realty, Arvind SmartSpaces, TARC, Sri Lotus Developers, Arihant Superstructures, Arkade and Suraj Estate. In contrast, nine listed realty firms including DLF, Prestige, Oberoi Realty, Signature Global, Aditya Birla Real Estate, Brigade, Ashiana Housing and Eldeco reported a decline in sales bookings.
According to ANAROCK Group Vice Chairman Santhosh Kumar, housing launches picked up sharply in July after a subdued first quarter of FY27. The current quarter (July-September 2026) is expected to build on this momentum through the festive season. New launches had slowed through the March and June quarters due to the West Asia crisis, which pushed up raw material costs, regulatory delays and unsold existing inventory. However, developers that did launch projects during the slow quarter found buyers, with Sobha, Mahindra Lifespace, and Raymond Realty seeing strong response to their launches. Collections from existing projects also improved for many listed developers during the period, allowing companies to pare down debt and strengthen their balance sheets heading into the festive season when launch activity typically picks up.
Real estate consultants attributed the fall in collective sales to no fresh launches by key companies, a high base effect, and cautious sentiment among prospective homebuyers due to global economic uncertainties amid the West Asia conflict. As reported by The Economic Times, larger developers continued to gain market share through geographical diversification and stronger execution despite range-bound volumes for three years. ANAROCK projects total home sales value across India's top cities will rise 10-12% this financial year (FY27) compared with last year (FY26), even as the number of units sold falls 3-4%. Sales in the first half of this financial year across the top seven cities totalled 1.92 lakh housing units, a figure that fell 7% from the previous half-year. In value terms, sales rose about 1% over the same period, reflecting a broad shift toward higher-priced homes. The combination of strong REIT performance and improving fundamentals suggests potential for sector recovery despite current headwinds, with consultants hoping that sales numbers would revive from the second quarter onwards.
