Housing sales in the top seven cities of the country hit an all-time high this year at nearly 3.65 lakh units, beating the previous high of 2014, despite the gradual hike in property prices and higher interest rates on home loans.

According to a report from Anarock Research, housing sales rose 54 per cent this year to 3,64,900 units against 2,36,500 units in 2021 across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Chennai, Calcutta, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. Sales had touched 3.43 lakh units across these cities in 2014.

The MMR market clocked the highest sales of 1,09,700 units in 2022, followed by Delhi-NCR at 63,700 units. Anarock added that housing sales in Delhi-NCR rose 59 per cent to 63,712 units in 2022, from 40,053 units in the previous year.

Calcutta also put in a good show with 21,220 units being sold, a rise of 62 per cent over 13,077 units in 2021. In percentage terms, Calcutta was the second after Hyderabad, which witnessed an 87 per cent rise at 47,487 units. On fresh supply, Anarock said that launches across the top seven cities saw a 51 per cent annual rise to 3,57,600 units in 2022 from 2,36,700 units in 2021.

MMR and Hyderabad witnessed the maximum launches in 2022, together comprising nearly 54 per cent share of the total launches in the year.

Calcutta saw a 17 per cent rise in new supply at 16,088 units against 13,746 units in 2021.

MMR saw the highest gain at 119 per cent. “2022 has been a phenomenal year for residential real estate despite all headwinds, including rising property prices, interest rate hikes and geopolitical tensions. As we march into a new year, we anticipate the current sales momentum in the housing sector to continue in the first quarter of 2023.

“The appetite for homeownership has remained undeterred, with maximum sales being driven by the end-users. However, various risks loom large around the residential segment. “A lot will depend on how the home loan interest rates pan out over the next year,’’ Anarock Group chairman Anuj Puri said.

Unsold inventory declined 1 per cent in the December quarter.