Housing Sales Fall by 26% in Top Eight Cities Delhi-NCR Defies Trend
The Indian housing market experienced a notable slowdown in the last quarter of 2024, with a 26% year-on-year (YoY) drop in housing sales across the country’s top eight cities. This downturn was primarily driven by a combination of factors, including assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana and rising property prices, which dampened consumer sentiment. Despite the overall decline in sales, a closer look at the data reveals a 10% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase, largely driven by the festival season.
The cities covered in the survey included Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai. According to PropTiger.com, a digital real estate transaction platform, both the number of new launches and the total sales witnessed a significant dip in Q4 2024. The survey suggests that the political climate, especially the assembly elections held in Maharashtra and Haryana in October and November respectively, played a crucial role in hindering real estate transactions. Additionally, the persistent rise in property prices further added to the affordability challenge for potential buyers.
Among the eight cities, Delhi-NCR emerged as a notable exception. The region saw an impressive surge in home sales, with 9,808 units sold in the October-December quarter, marking a substantial 50% increase from the 6,528 units sold during the same period in 2023. This uptick in sales is attributed to both demand driven by the festive season and the continued preference for residential properties in the region, despite the overall market slowdown. Real estate experts believe that Delhi-NCR’s resilience can be credited to a combination of factors, including its large housing inventory, improved affordability compared to other metropolitan cities, and ongoing infrastructure developments.
In contrast, the real estate markets in MMR, Pune, Bengaluru, and Chennai showed a clear dip in housing sales. Experts suggest that the rising prices of properties in these markets, combined with the uncertainty brought about by the elections, led to a decrease in buyer confidence. In Mumbai, for instance, a highly priced property market has made it increasingly difficult for first-time homebuyers to enter the market. This trend was seen across most major cities, where affordability remained a concern for the average homebuyer, particularly in urban centres.
New launches across these cities also mirrored the trend of declining sales. PropTiger.com’s data shows a 33% drop in new housing launches during the same quarter, pointing towards a more cautious approach from developers. The combination of stagnant sales and high construction costs has led builders to slow down their project launches, opting instead to complete existing projects or focus on more affordable offerings in peripheral markets.
Despite the overall slowdown, the quarter’s positive QoQ growth is encouraging for the real estate market, especially when viewed through the lens of the festive season, which often brings a temporary boost in housing demand. However, the outlook for 2025 remains uncertain, with experts predicting that housing sales will continue to face pressure from high property prices and possible policy interventions by state governments.
As the market continues to evolve, developers, investors, and homebuyers alike will need to adjust to a complex mix of political, economic, and market-driven factors. While Delhi-NCR stands out as a beacon of hope in an otherwise subdued market, it remains to be seen whether this trend will be sustainable in the long term, or if other cities will eventually follow suit as affordability and market dynamics continue to evolve.
