Housing sales across eight major Indian cities fell 2 per cent year-on-year to nearly 96,000 units in the January-March quarter of 2026, driven by slower demand and lower fresh supply in the affordable housing segment, according to a PropTiger report released on Saturday.
Overall Market Performance
The residential market recorded sales of 95,973 units during the first quarter of calendar year 2026, compared with 98,095 units in the same period last year, as per the consultant's Real INSIGHT – Residential Q1 2026 report. New housing supply remained largely unchanged at 93,065 units during the quarter, against 93,144 units a year ago.
Prakash Tejwani, CEO of PropTiger, commented, “The Indian residential market has transitioned into a structurally more disciplined phase. Growth today is increasingly being driven by demand quality, inventory discipline, and buyer confidence rather than speculative expansion.”
City-Wise Performance
Among major markets, Bengaluru emerged as the strongest performer, posting a 33 per cent rise in housing sales to 15,603 units during the quarter from 11,731 units a year earlier. Hyderabad recorded a 25 per cent increase in sales to 13,297 units, while Chennai saw demand rise to 6,841 units from 4,774 units. Delhi-NCR also reported an 11 per cent increase in sales to 9,447 units.
However, weakness in larger western markets weighed on overall numbers. Housing sales in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) declined 15 per cent to 26,116 units from 30,705 units, while Pune recorded a steeper 21 per cent fall to 13,565 units. Ahmedabad and Kolkata also witnessed declines of 23 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively.
Price Trends and Inventory
PropTiger noted that all eight cities continued to register year-on-year price appreciation, while inventory levels remained balanced as new launches stayed aligned with sales absorption.
Bengaluru: A Key Outlier
The report highlighted Bengaluru as a key outlier due to sustained employment growth and expansion of global capability centres (GCCs). “The GCC and startup employment engine continues to prove more durable than conventional IT hiring cycles, providing Bengaluru with a structurally differentiated demand base,” PropTiger stated.
Industry executives also pointed to changing homebuyer behaviour in Bengaluru. Navin Dhanuka, Director of ArisUnitern RE Solutions, said, “Bengaluru's mid-segment housing is maturing. The city's professional class isn't just buying homes anymore, they're making long-term bets on Bengaluru's global relevance.”
Umesh Gowda H A, Chairman and Founder of Sanjeevini Group, added that demand growth was being supported by stronger fundamentals rather than speculative activity. “The continued expansion of GCCs, startups, deep-tech companies and global innovation centres is creating a more diversified and resilient employment ecosystem, which is translating into sustained residential demand across key micro-markets,” he said.
