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Informist, Thursday, Jul. 9, 2026

 

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--Knight Frank: India premium homes accounted for 54% of total sales in H1 
--CONTEXT: Comments by Knight Frank on H1 real estate performance 
--Knight Frank: Premium homes are priced at INR 10 mln or more 
--Knight Frank: Realty developers adopt disciplined capital allocation 
--Knight Frank: Bengaluru accounted for 41% of capability centre activities 
--Knight Frank: Mumbai led H1 leasing transactions at 7.3 mln sq ft, up 33% 
--Knight Frank: Developers prioritising residential projects over office 
--Knight Frank: Vacany level at post-pandemic low of 14.6% 
--Knight Frank: National Capital Region sales declined 7% YoY in H1 
--Knight Frank: Indian home buying has plateaued H1 after 3 years of growth 
--Knight Frank: Third year of inventory build up in residential mkt in H1 
--Knight Frank: Unsold inventory up 4% on year in Jan-Jun 
--Knight Frank: Residential house price up 18% in Delhi, Faridabad in H1 
--Knight Frank: INR 10 mln-INR 20 mln now largest segment in residential mkt 

 

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI – India's housing market has plateaued after three consecutive years of growth, according to analysts at Knight Frank India. India's residential sales grew only 1% on year to 171,471 units in Jan-Jun. The new project launches grew by 4% on year to 187,350 units in the first six months of 2026, they said, discussing real estate performance for the first half of the year on Thursday.

 

"The market has effectively plateaued after the three consecutive years of strong recovery that we saw. Now, we wouldn't say that this is a slowdown narrative, but more of a normalisation one," Ankita Sood, national director-research, Knight Frank India, said, adding that the new launches are outpacing the sales and the gap needs to be closely monitored in the quarters to come. 

 

Amongst the top eight cities, only the National Capital Region saw an over 7% on-year decline in sales and a 5% on-year decline in new launches, while other regions posted either flat sales or slight increases. Sood attributed this decline to a strong base and increased sales in the region in the past few quarters. 

 

The unsold inventory in the housing market stood at 525,695 units in the first half of 2026, up 4% on year. This is the third consecutive year of inventory buildup in Jan-Jun, according to Knight Frank. "However, the levels are still 26?low the 2014 peak that we saw when we had unsold inventory close to 7.1 lakh (710,000) units, which signals that the demand momentum is pretty strong in the market right now," Sood said. 

 

Shishir Baijal, chairman and managing director, Knight Frank India, said the velocity of sales remains relatively strong, and the number of quarters to sell is within the required range, despite an increase in inventory. "So fundamentally saying that the industry is still in a healthy environment and we haven't reached the stage that we had during the pre-pandemic time when the unsold inventory reached stages which were alarming," Baijal said.

 

Meanwhile, across all eight markets tracked by Knight Frank India, the pricing remained broad-based. "Developers continue to hold firm on their headline pricing," Sood said. The National Capital Region, along with Faridabad, saw an 18% price increase in Jan-Jun. "Even the markets which are very end-user friendly, for example, Ahmedabad, they also registered a 3% growth in their pricing... There is no city which is showing a price correction. And this is notable given that the volumes are pretty much flat. It suggests that the market is currently more price-led rather than volume-led," Sood said, adding that the premium homes continue to "power the housing demand." 

 

The premium market accounted for the largest share, at 54%, of total housing sales. The premium houses are priced at INR 10 million or above. "Premium homes priced above INR 10 million or (INR 1 crore) accounted for 54% of total sales, highlighting the continued evolution of buyer preferences towards larger homes, better amenities and stronger long-term value," Baijal said. In the premium segment, sales of houses priced at INR 10 million to INR 20 million grew the highest at 50,488 units in the first six months of 2026. Bengaluru led the segment, contributing 25% of the total sales volume, with 12,808 units sold during the period. The INR 10 million-INR 20 million now accounts for the largest share of the residential market.

 

"The premium segment is attracting the new supply. Obviously, the supply is going where the demand is. Development activity has been in line with the changing preferences of the demand patterns, the homebuyers shift that we are seeing post-COVID," Sood noted.

 

In contrast, sales of affordable houses priced below INR 5 million declined by 15% in the first six months of 2026. "The affordable segment we see is retreating. And what we are seeing is a pretty much structural shift in the Indian home buyer's profile. Now, that has direct implications on developers, the lenders, and the markets," Sood said. Notably, the analysts said that realty developers continue to adopt disciplined capital allocation and are prioritising residential projects over office projects.   

 

In the office market, global capability centres led the segment, accounting for 43% of total demand. "These centres have evolved from cost-hardly-dragged back-offices into strategic sectors of excellence handling complex data analytics, AI research, product development and enterprise risks," another analyst said, adding that Bengaluru remained the preferred destination, and captured 41% of the global capability centres activity in the country. 

 

In terms of leasing, Mumbai led the segment with 7.3 million square feet, up 33% year-on-year. The vacancy rate was at a post-pandemic low of 14.6% in Jan-Jun, according to the analysts.  End

 

Reported by Astha Oriel and Ashutosh Pati

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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