Hyderabad pips NCR as India's second-costliest city, Ahmedabad most reasonable

Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Pune are the most affordable residential markets in 2023

 Hyderabad has pipped Delhi NCR as India's second most expensive residential market, according to Knight Frank India’s proprietary Affordability Index. While Mumbai is still India's most unaffordable city, Ahmedabad and Kolkata are some of the most affordable spaces. 

The Knight Frank Affordability Index indicates the proportion of income that a household requires to fund the monthly instalment (EMI) of a housing unit in a particular city. Thus, the Knight Frank Affordability Index level of 40 per cent for a city implies that on an average, households in that city need to spend 40 per cent of their income to fund the EMI of a housing loan for a unit. An EMI/ Income ratio of over 50 per cent is considered unaffordable as it is the limit beyond which banks rarely underwrite a mortgage.

Note: (1) Calculated as EMI/INCOME ratio 

(2) City-wide average affordability statistics cannot highlight disparities in housing costs within sub-markets or across the income spectrum. Source: MOSPI, Knight Frank Research

Mumbai is the only city beyond the affordability threshold of 50 per cent, a level exceeding which banks rarely underwrite a mortgage. The most expensive residential market of the country, Mumbai, has however seen an improvement of 2 per cent in its affordability index measured at 51 per cent in 2023 from 53 per cent in 2022.

Data analysed by property consultancy firm Anarock also showed that MMR witnessed the highest sales of approx 1,53,870 units in 2023, followed by Pune with approx. 86,680 units. The two western markets together led residential sales in 2023.

Hyderabad is the second most expensive residential market in the country. The affordability index of the city remained unchanged at 30 per cent for both the years of 2023 and 2022 as home prices increased by a prolific 11 per cent in 2023 but sales increased by 30 per cent to 61,715 units in 2023. 
 

National Capital Region (NCR) has seen its affordability index improve to 27 per cent in 2023 from 29 per cent in 2022 but data from Anarock shows that sales only increased  3 per cent on year at 65,625 units in 2023.
 

Bengaluru is the fourth most expensive market with an affordability index of 26% in 2023. The ratio of city has improved marginally by 1% since 2022 and 6% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019. •Bengaluru saw approx. 63,980 units sold in 2023 - an annual increase of 29 per cent, said Anarock. 
 

The affordability Index of Chennai has improved by 2% from 27% in 2022 to 25% in 2023. Chennai saw approx. 21,630 units sold in Chennai in 2023 - a yearly jump of 34% over 2022.

In fact, nearly 476,530 residential units were sold across the seven major cities in 2023, the highest in the last 10 years, said Anarock.  2023 saw a 31 per cent growth over 2022, which had seen total sales of 364,870 units across the top seven cities. The decade’s previous peak was seen in 2022, after 2014, when about 343,000 units were sold, it said. Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) witnessed the highest sales of about 153,870 units, followed by Pune with about 86,680 units. The two western markets together led residential sales in 2023, according to the report.

Source: Anarock

•MMR recorded the highest sales in 2023 across the top 7 cities. With nearly 1,53,870 units sold in 2023, the city witnessed an annual increase of a significant 40%. 

•Pune recorded sales of around 86,680 units in 2023 - an increase of 52% over 2022.

•NCR recorded sales of approx. 65,625 units in 2023, increasing by 3% over the last one year.

•Bengaluru saw approx. 63,980 units sold in 2023 - an annual increase of 29%.

•Hyderabad recorded sales of approx. 61,715 units in 2023 - a yearly increase of 30% over 2022

•Kolkata recorded sales of approx. 23,030 units in 2023 - an annual increase of 9% over the previous year.

•Chennai saw approx. 21,630 units sold in Chennai in 2023 - a yearly jump of 34% over 2022.

Among the budget categories, luxury housing demand increased exponentially as homebuyers continue to look for bigger livable spaces post the pandemic. The new luxury supply addition across the top 7 cities in 2023 has jumped up five times when compared to 2018. There is no reason to expect luxury housing demand to taper off in 2024.

So far in 2023, a total of 58 properties (priced over Rs 40 crore) were sold across top seven cities with a recorded sales value of Rs 4,063 crore. In contrast, the whole of 2022 saw deals for 13 such homes for a total sales value of Rs 1,170 crore.

Mumbai alone sold 53 units, each priced above Rs 40 crore. At least four such deals were closed in Delhi-NCR - two apartments in Gurgaon and two bungalows in New Delhi. Hyderabad witnessed one residential deal of Rs 40 crore at Jubilee Hills. Within Mumbai, at least 3 deals in Mumbai closed for price tags above Rs 200 crore. At least two homes in Delhi-NCR were sold for above Rs 100 crore each.