Luxury housing sales pick up in top 7 Indian cities; rise 97% YoY in Jan-Sep’23

The segment has maintained strong sales momentum with the total sales of luxury units during Jan-Sep’23 period standing at approximately 9,200 compared to 4,700 units during the same period last year.

The need for low- and mid-income housing may be diminishing due to rising housing costs and rising house prices, but luxury home market sales are soaring.

Data from CBRE’s ‘India Market Monitor Q3 2023’ report suggests that the luxury housing segment in India, comprising units priced at ₹4 crore and above, jumped 97% year-on-year (YoY) to about 9,200 units during January-September 2023.

The segment has maintained strong sales momentum with total sales of luxury units during Jan-Sep’23 period standing at approximately 9,200 compared to 4,700 units during the same period last year.

Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Hyderabad are the top three markets in terms of sales among the top seven cities, together accounting for about 90% of all luxury home sales. Delhi-NCR topped with roughly 37% share of the market. On the heels, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Pune made up about 35%, 18%, and 4% of the total, respectively.

Following a similar trend, the luxury housing market saw a 19% year-over-year gain in sales during the July–September 23 quarter in the top seven cities. Total sales for the quarter were over 2,400 units, as opposed to roughly 2,000 units for the same period in 2022. Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Delhi-NCR were the cities' top marketplaces in terms of sales during the quarter.

A previous report from CBRE revealed that luxury housing sales rose by 130% in the first half of calendar 2023, with some cities such as Hyderabad seeing a 14-fold rise in sales and in Delhi-National Capital Region rising 3-fold. 

Festive trends

Building on the strong sales performance witnessed in the first nine months of 2023, the ongoing festive season is expected to stimulate further growth in the housing market.  It is predicted that festive home sales in 2023 would surpass 150,000 units and shatter a three-year record.

“We anticipate the overall housing market to be further bolstered by ongoing festive season in coming months of 2023. With the pause in the interest rate cycle, incentives and schemes offered by developers in the festive season are likely to boost sales further,” says Anshuman Magazine, chairman & CEO (India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa) of CBRE.

Between Jan-Sep’23 alone, there were over 230,000 residential sales across all price points, representing a 5% year-over-year increase. During the same time, developers launched over 220,000 additional housing units due to sustained market momentum.

Almost half of all residential sales in the period of Jan-Sep’23 were dominated by mid-end developments, with high-end and affordable projects following closely behind. Mumbai, Pune, and Bangalore combined accounted for 62% of sales during the Jan-Sep’23 period. 

On the other hand, Mumbai, Pune, and Hyderabad dominated the new launches during the first nine months of the year, capturing a significant cumulative share of about 64%, says the report.

Significantly, during the Jul-Sep’23 quarter, over 80,000 residential units were sold, while new unit launches stood at 72,000 during the same period. With a combined share of 63%, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Pune led the market for new apartment launches.

Furthermore, with a combined share of almost 62%, Pune, Mumbai, and Bangalore had the highest sales of residential units during the previous quarter. With a cumulative share of 35%, the high-end and premium categories continued to be key drivers of sales, while the mid-end category's share was 46% during the Jul-Sep’23 quarter.