Housing sales across India's top nine cities demonstrated significant decline in the January-March quarter, with sales volume falling 13% year-on-year to 98,761 units during Q1 2026, according to PropEquity data. This marks the first time sales have fallen below 1 lakh units after 18 quarters, highlighting the severity of the current market downturn. The quarterly decline was attributed to global economic uncertainties stemming from the West Asia conflict, with sales also declining 6% from the previous quarter's 1,05,527 units. However, sales value grew 6% to ₹1.51 lakh crore during the current quarter compared to ₹1.42 lakh crore in the same quarter of the previous year, achieving growth on a low-base effect.
Despite the volume decline, the housing market showed resilience in financial terms. Sales value grew 6% to ₹1.51 lakh crore during the January-March period compared to ₹1.42 lakh crore in the same quarter of the previous year. This growth was achieved on a low-base effect, indicating underlying market strength despite the quarterly challenges. The value growth demonstrates the continued premium pricing in India's residential real estate market, with average residential property prices across the top 7 cities seeing single-digit jumps in the last one year. As per PropEquity, new supply fell 19% to 92,411 units during January-March period from 1,14,718 units in the corresponding period last year.
According to PropEquity Founder & CEO Samir Jasuja, the 13% annual decline tracks the war-induced uncertainty caused by the Iran War. As reported by The Economic Times, Jasuja noted that sentiment and sales were clearly affected by surging oil and construction prices, particularly in March. The decline also reflects the impact of large numbers of prospective Middle Eastern homebuyers who invest significantly in Indian real estate, who hit the pause button under the war cloud. India's residential segment maintains strong long-term fundamentals despite these short-term market disruptions, with close to 22,000 lesser units supplied in Q1 2026 compared to the same period last year.
Bengaluru emerged as the standout performer with 3% growth to 17,991 units, maintaining its position as India's highest-selling housing market, according to PropEquity data. Delhi-NCR also showed resilience with 13% growth to 12,141 units from 10,723 units in the year-ago period. However, Mumbai witnessed a significant 20% decline to 9,186 units from 11,453 units, while Navi Mumbai saw a 14% fall to 7,157 units from 8,340 units. Pune recorded a 25% decline to 16,144 units from 21,640 units, and Hyderabad saw a 16% drop to 11,546 units from 13,725 units. Chennai fell 4% to 4,765 units from 4,959 units, and Kolkata declined 8% to 3,872 units from 4,229 units, as reported by The Economic Times.
New launches across the top 9 cities saw limited quarterly growth of 2% in Q1 2026, with total new launches reaching 92,411 units compared to 1,14,718 units in Q4 2025. MMR and Bengaluru accounted for 51% of total new launches, with MMR seeing a 6% quarterly increase and Bengaluru recording a 7% jump. Available inventory increased 4% quarterly and 7% annually to 6,01,210 units from 5,76,620 units by Q4 2025-end. As per PropEquity, new launches have started outpacing sales, reversing the post-pandemic pattern when sales were usually higher, with unsold inventory now above 6 lakh units across the top 9 cities. The 8% quarterly decline in new launches from the preceding quarter's 1,00,525 units reflects cautious developer sentiment amid the challenging market conditions.
