chennai after six years of continuous slump the chennai real estate market is showing signs of recoverythe citys residential market witnessed a marginal 3 increase in sales and 12 jump in new launches in 2018 compared to the previous year however the sales figures for 2018 are about 72 lower than what was recorded in 2012 though it is the first increase in sales since the slowdown started in 2012 the 2018 performance is 72 lower than that of 2012 said a report released by international realty consultant knight frank on tuesdaynew launches in chennai have gone up by more than 1000 units compared to 2017 the subrs 50 lakh bracket accounted for 67 of new launches the southern and western parts of the city saw 48 per cent of the new apartment launches during the second half of last year at the national level mumbai recorded the highest 220 yearonyear increase in apartment launches followed by pune with 157 and hyderabad 54 the national capital region saw 35 increase in launches while bengaluru recorded 22 increase however as regards sales bengaluru emerged on top with 27 increase followed by hyderabad 9 ncr 8 and chennai and mumbai 3 eachbriefing reporters on the occasion kanchana krishnan director knight frank india pvt ltd chennai branch said the increase in sales and new launches was witnessed across the country as far as the chennai market is concerned sales and project launches are going up for the first time since 2012 she said however prices have witnessed a three percent downward slide in 2018 she saidthough the state government announced an increase in floor space index fsi recently developers seem to be waiting for the new development regulations to be out to roll out new projects she saidon the office space front the second half of 2018 saw the sharpest decline 33 fall in transactions since 2014 poor supply of quality grade a office space was a major reason for the poor show she saidthe forthcoming lok sabha polls are expected to dampen the realty market in the first half of 2019 she said