India's Bengaluru posts record home sales

[SINGAPORE] Home sales in Bengaluru, India's information technology hub, rose to a record in the June quarter as new projects boosted demand, according to Liases Foras Real Estate Rating & Research Pvt.

Sales in the city, home to the Indian units of Intel Corp and Google Inc, rose 10 per cent to 17.77 million square feet in the three months ended June 30 from the previous quarter, said Pankaj Kapoor, the founder of Liases Foras, a Mumbai-based real estate research company. "Sales in Bengaluru have been the highest among the six major cities," Mr Kapoor said, citing others it tracks, which are Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, National Capital Region and Pune.

The pick-up in India's off-shoring business is driving demand for homes in the southern city formerly known as Bangalore. Demand for Grade-A offices will climb 3 per cent to 22.9 million sq ft this year from last year, the first increase in three years and the strongest demand to be seen in Bengaluru, according to broker Cushman & Wakefield Inc. Sales in the city were boosted by projects that were marketed by Godrej Properties Ltd and Puravankara Projects Ltd, Mr Kapoor said.