Affordable home sales down 23 pc in Q1 2026 in top 8 cities, including Hyderabad

All eight cities reported a fall in sales in the affordable segment, making it the steepest decline across all price categories during the period.

Hyderabad: Sales of affordable homes, costing less than Rs 50 lakh each, fell 23 per cent on-year in January-March to 16,273 units across eight major cities, including Hyderabad, mainly due to lower fresh supply in this price bracket, according to Knight Frank.

All eight cities of Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata reported a fall in sales in the affordable segment, making it the steepest decline across all price categories during the period.

Post-COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for luxury homes has surged. Builders are attributing the lower launches in the affordable housing segment to the high cost of inputs, especially land.

As per the data, even the Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore category witnessed a decline of 12 per cent year-on-year during the first quarter of the 2026 calendar year to 23,567 units across the eight major cities.

However, the housing sales in the Rs 1-2 crore segment rose 10 per cent to 24,657 units during January-March. In the Rs 2-5 crore category, the housing sales rose 17 per cent to 16,075 units. Sales in the Rs 5-10 crore price category dipped 3 per cent to 3,338 units.

Housing sales in the Rs 10-20 crore category increased 12 per cent to 738 units, while sales in Rs 20-50 crore category jumped 80 per cent to 165 units.

In homes costing more than Rs 50 crore, the sales declined 93 per cent to 12 units during the January-March period.

Overall, across all price categories, Knight Frank data showed that the housing sales fell 4 per cent annually in January-March to 84,827 units across the eight cities due to soft demand because of high prices and uncertainties caused by the West Asia conflict.

“Market activity remained skewed toward the higher end even as growth moderated, while volumes continue to slide in ticket sizes below Rs 10 million (1 crore),” Knight Frank said in its report.

The share of these lower segments (below Rs 1 crore) has declined to 47 per cent of the total sales, compared to 54 per cent in January-March 2025.

Shishir Baijal, International Partner, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said the moderation in residential demand follows a sustained multi-year upcycle.

“While this phase can be partly attributed to a natural consolidation after strong growth, the continued rise in prices alongside softening volumes indicates growing pressure on affordability and absorption,” he said.

At the same time, Baijal said the volatile geopolitical situation has also resulted in subdued interest in residential demand. The total new supply fell 2 per cent annually to 94,855 units in January-March across the eight cities.

(With PTI inputs)