Realty shares in focus; Sobha, Kolte-Patil, Puravankara touch 52-wk high

STOCK MARKET - Shares of real estate companies were trading higher by up to 14% on the BSE in an otherwise subdued market in noon deal trade on expectation of uptick in residential new sales in ensuing quarters across key markets.

Sunteck Realty, Sobha, Kolte-Patil Developers, Unitech and Puravankara were up 5% to 14% on the BSE. The S&P BSE Realty index up 1% as compared to 0.19% decline in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex at 12:40 PM.

Kolte-Patil Developers, Puravankara and Sobha were trading at their respective 52-week highs while NBCC (India), Delta Corp and Sunteck Realty hit record highs on the BSE in intra-day trade on Monday.

Sobha hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 553 today rallied 41% in past 10-trading days, after the company announced Q2 pre-sales numbers. The company said that it achieved new sales value of Rs 593 crore in July- September quarter (Q2FY18) was the highest in the past 10 quarters. The real estate developer had reported sales value of Rs 518 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

“With the onset of RERA and GST, we are already witnessing an increase in customer confidence and an improved market sentiment. We believe that credible players are likely to gain ground and unorganised players will be pushed out and we will witness consolidation in the sector,” Vikas Oberoi, Chairman & Managing Director, Oberoi Realty said while announcing Q2 results on October 16, 2017.

According to analyst at Edelweiss Securities, the key uncertainties (RERA & GST) appear to have largely settled. Despite near‐term sluggishness, we expect uptick in residential new sales in ensuing quarters across key markets.