Skip to main content

Housing sales fall below 1 lakh after 18 quarters, down 13% YoY in Q1 2026

 
India’s residential real estate market witnessed a continued slowdown in the first quarter of 2026, with housing sales across the top nine cities falling below the one lakh unit mark for the first time in over four years, according to data released by P.E. Analytics Ltd (PropEquity).
The NSE-listed analytics firm reported that total housing sales declined by 13% year-on-year and 6% quarter-on-quarter to 98,761 units in the January–March period. New project launches also contracted significantly, dropping 19% year-on-year and 8% sequentially to 92,411 units, reflecting constrained supply across most major urban markets.
The data indicates a broad-based decline in demand across cities, with Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR emerging as notable exceptions. Bengaluru recorded the highest sales among the top nine cities at 17,991 units, registering a 16% quarter-on-quarter increase and a modest 3% annual growth. This marks the first time the city has led both in sales and supply, underscoring its growing prominence as a real estate hub.
Delhi-NCR, with sales of 12,141 units, posted a 13% year-on-year increase, although it saw a marginal 1% decline compared to the previous quarter. All other major markets, including Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Kolkata, reported declines in sales, with some cities witnessing sharp contractions of up to 25% on an annual basis.
Commenting on the trend, Samir Jasuja, Founder and CEO of PropEquity, said housing sales “continued to moderate in the first quarter of 2026,” attributing the decline primarily to reduced supply across cities. He noted that nearly 22,000 fewer units were launched during the quarter compared to the same period last year.
On the supply side, Delhi-NCR emerged as a key growth driver, with 17,227 units launched during the quarter. It recorded an 89% year-on-year and 8% quarter-on-quarter increase, making it the only city among the top nine to post growth on both counts. The region has now emerged as the second-largest market in terms of new supply.
Bengaluru retained the top position in new launches with 17,782 units, registering a 10% sequential increase, although it saw a 24% annual decline. Chennai also recorded a 12% quarter-on-quarter rise in supply but witnessed a steep 62% year-on-year drop. Other cities, including Mumbai, Pune, Thane, and Navi Mumbai, experienced declines in new project launches.
Jasuja highlighted that while Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru saw comparable levels of supply, the former recorded lower absorption due to a higher proportion of premium or high-ticket housing launches, which impacted sales velocity. He also noted that this is the first time since the pandemic that Delhi-NCR has surpassed traditional high-supply markets such as Pune, Hyderabad, and Thane in terms of new launches.
The report suggests that the current moderation in housing activity is largely supply-driven, with developers exercising caution amid evolving market conditions. However, the relative resilience of Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR points to shifting demand dynamics and emerging regional strengths within India’s housing sector.
PropEquity stated that it tracks over 1.8 lakh projects by more than 60,000 developers across 50-plus cities, providing real-time data and analytics to institutional investors, banks, NBFCs, and developers.

Comments

Post a Comment

NOTE: Hateful, abusive comments won't be published.

TRENDING

The dye is caste in Gujarat

I think it was 1994 when I first met Japanese scholar Takashi Shinoda, an Indologist, during my routine visit to the Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research, Ahmedabad, at that time still known for some quality research. Once headed such academics of highest order such as DT Lakdawala and YK Alagh, the institute has since collapsed – at least this is what I learn from Gujarat’s academic circles, with whom I had developed good rapport before I was shifted to Gandhinagar to report on government affairs for the Times of India in 1997. Unassuming, Shinoda took me to the institute canteen for tea, and told me of his latest area of interest – social mobility and occupational diversification of different castes over several decades. What he told me was indeed of great interest to me – that Gujarat’s “enterprising” Patels, who I thought till then were mainly a farming community, had still not overtaken the Banias in business. However, he underlined, “The way things are happening...
Post a Comment
»

Jay Somnath

Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi This is what happened several decades ago, when I was a small school-going child. Every summer, accompanied with my mother, I would come down from Delhi to spend the two-month-long holiday at my maternal uncle’s place in the posh Panchvati area of Ahmedabad. Each weekend, my uncle would take us for a ride in his grand old black car. I think it was Chevrolet. I would wait eagerly for the weekend, as I had virtually nothing to do for the rest of the days. In the evenings, I mostly play in the open ground with the neighbouring children, but for rest of the time, as if, I was under strict, almost loving, control of my grandma, whom all of the children of the family called Baa. Especially after the dinner, which would be pretty early, she would make it a point to entertain us – mainly me and my cousin – by playing bezique. During one such summer, Baa decided to give us a strong injection of nationalism. She took in her hand Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi’s well-kno...
Post a Comment
»

DigiLocker's 'mismatch' problem: When technology defies government policy

  DigiLocker has been functioning in rather strange ways, at least in my experience over the past year. For quite some time now, I have been trying to retrieve various documents from the Government of India's official app, but every attempt ends with an inexplicable "mismatch" error. I even lodged a complaint through its official email ID, explaining that I was unable to retrieve or download essential documents such as my PAN card , driving licence, and the registration certificates of my car and scooter. The response has remained the same: the system refuses access on the grounds of a so-called mismatch.
1 comment
»