Oberoi Realty, Sobha: Nifty Realty falls 4%; What's worrying investors?

Real estate-related stocks bled on the first trading session of the financial year 2026. Nifty Realty fell 3.8 per cent intra-day to 819.95 and was the top sectoral loser.  

Around 1:57 PM, all 10 constituents on the Nifty Realty index traded in red. Oberoi Realty, Godrej Properties, Prestige Estates were down over 3 per cent, Macro Tech Developers, Phoenix Mills, DLF, Sobha, and Brigade Enterprises slipped 2 per cent and Anant Raj and Raymond declined over 1 per cent.   The weakness in the real estate stocks came after the Maharashtra government hiked the "ready reckoner" (RR) rates for the financial year 2025-26 effective April 1, 2025. RR rates are used for property valuations related to stamp duty and taxes. This marks the first increase in two years. Mumbai will see a 3.39 per cent hike in these rates, while other areas in the state will experience a larger average increase of 3.89 per cent. Notably, cities like Navi Mumbai, Thane, and Nashik will face steeper hikes, reaching up to 10.17 per cent.

 

 

Although the average rise in the state remains 3.89 per cent, it is 5.95 per cent in urban areas governed by municipal corporations. It is just 3.39 per cent in Mumbai, the second lowest after Nanded. 

 

Besides, India's housing sales dipped 28 per cent in Q1 2025 amid headwinds from increasing residential prices coupled with geopolitical uncertainties. Latest data from property consulting firm Anarock shows  approximately 93,280 units were sold in Q1 2025 in the top seven cities, in sharp contrast to all-time high sales of over 1.30 lakh units in Q1 2024.

 

Though new launches stayed above the 1 lakh mark in Q1 2024, unsold inventory dropped by 4 per cent annually – from around 5,80,890 units by Q1 2024-end to 5,59,810 units by Q1 2025-end. Among the top cities, Pune saw the highest decline of 16 per cent in its available stock in Q1 2025. In contrast, Bengaluru saw its unsold stock rise by a significant 28 per cent - to 58,660 units - by Q1 2025-end. 

 

Average residential property prices across the top seven cities saw a jump between 10 per cent to 34 per cent in Q1 2025 as compared to last year.  

Overall, the Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell over 1 per cent intra-day. The weakness in the market indices is a day ahead of US President Donald Trump's imposition of reciprocal tariffs. 

 

"Globally markets are focused on the details of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs to be announced tomorrow. The market trends after the announcements will depend on the details of the tariffs and how they will impact different countries and sectors," said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

 

Recently, Trump said that the reciprocal tariffs, set to be announced on April 2,  will apply to “all countries” without exception, dashing hopes of any relief to India. 

 

The announcement comes even as both nations continue negotiations over tariff concessions under a proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA).

 

 

He, however, insisted the tariffs would be “generous”. Without naming India, Trump took aim at trade practices in Asia. “You go to certain places, you take a look at every single country in Asia, what they have done to the US in trade. I won’t say anybody has treated us fairly or nicely. But we are going to be much more generous to them.”