After four quarters of a lull in new project launches, DLF made a comeback in the September quarter (Q2FY27). Pre-sales or bookings were higher than anticipated, zooming to ₹3,800 crore in Q2FY27 from ₹657 crore in Q1FY27. Sustained traction at the uber-luxury project The Dahlias, despite continued price hikes and a sell-out at the newly launched luxury retirement housing project The Aureva in Gurugram, led to the sequential surge. Pre-sales fell year-on-year due to a high base. DLF is seeing decent demand for its luxury offerings in the core market of Gurugram. Nuvama Research notes that while the Gurugram housing market is battling a slowdown amid falling volumes, DLF’s pedigree should help it navigate these challenges.
DLF’s focus remains on higher margins and cash flow accretion rather than on sales bookings growth. Even so, with H1FY27 pre-sales at around ₹4,500 crore, meeting its FY27 pre-sales guidance of ₹20,000 crore is a tall ask. DLF would unveil the next phase of West Park in Mumbai in Q3 and Hamilton-2 at DLF City in Q4. These two launches have an estimated gross development value or revenue potential of ₹10,000-12,000 crore, said JM Financial Institutional Securities.
Pre-sales will also depend on the exhaustion of inventory in existing projects. Sales velocity at The Dahlias project could ramp up post the opening of the experience centre in December. DLF has cautioned about temporary disruptions in construction due to labour migration and pollution restrictions in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), which could cause a delay of roughly 30-40 days, but remains hopeful of meeting construction timelines.
Further, DLF acquired a 7.06-acre land parcel in Q2 and will acquire another 7.48 acres adjoining its existing 28.5-acre land parcel in Sector 61, Gurugram. Although DLF is gradually expanding geographically, concentration risk remains. Around 60% of DLF’s total land bank is concentrated in NCR, which could restrict scaling up of operations, said Nuvama.
Meanwhile, rental growth in the commercial business would be supported by the Goa mall to be operational by December. The Downtown Chennai Blocks 4 and 5 are slated to become operational in 2027. The DLF stock is up around 13% in the last six months, outperforming the Nifty Realty index. DLF’s comfortable cash position, robust collections, and medium-term launch pipeline of ₹58,230 crore are positives, but all eyes are now on timely H2 launches.