Q1 home sales dip 19%, less than 1 lakh residential units sold in Jan-March

Against the backdrop of worsening geopolitical concerns that can deeply impact the domestic job market, sales fell in all key residential markets except Bengaluru and Chennai

Home sales across India’s eight prime residential markets in the January-March period fell 19% over last year, as rising property prices and slowing growth forced buyers to exercise caution, as per a report by digital real estate transaction & advisory platform PropTiger.com. 

Housing markets covered in the report are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, NCR (Gurugram, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad), MMR (Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane) and Pune. 

 

According to the Real Insight Residential: Q1 2025 report (January–March 2025) by PropTiger.com—part of REA India, which also owns Housing.com— new home supply also dropped 10% in the first quarter of the calendar year, as developers adjusted expectations amid a dramatic price appreciation of the past couple of years, which made housing unaffordable for a large section of buyers in the world’s most populous country.

 

“The huge spike in prices had already started to show its adverse impact on sales. With a global trade war now bringing new uncertainty, it is only natural for buyers to adopt a cautious approach to investment, particularly in something so big as real estate,” said  Dhruv Agarwala, Group Chief Executive Officer, Housing.com and PropTiger.com.

 

The sales decline could have been a lot sharper if not for the 25-basis-point rate cut announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in February, Mr. Agarwala added.

 

Most urban Indians rely on housing loans to make a house purchase. Repo rate is the benchmark that determines the interest they would pay on this credit. A downward change in this rate is a certain measure to boost buyer confidence.

 

Sales fall across cities barring Bengaluru, Chennai

 

According to the report, less than 100,000 residential units were sold in the January-March quarter, with most cities covered in the analysis showing a fall in numbers. While Bengaluru and Chennai bucked this trend, Hyderabad, MMR and Pune witnessed the sharpest sales drop.

 

Signs of a market correction were also visible through a dip in new supply, with five of the eight cities showing an annual decline in launches. Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad registered the sharpest fall in numbers, the report showed.