Housing Sales Across Major Cities Fall Below 1 Lakh Units in Q1 2026
Housing sales in nine major Indian cities experienced a significant downturn in the January-March quarter of 2026, declining by 13 percent year-on-year to 98,761 units. This marks the first time in 18 quarters that sales have slipped below the 1 lakh mark, according to data from real estate research firm PropEquity.
Key Drivers of the Decline
The primary factor behind this drop is a substantial reduction in fresh housing supply. New launches plummeted by 19 percent to 92,411 units in the March quarter, compared to 1,14,718 units in the same period last year. Sequentially, sales fell by 6 percent from 1,05,527 units in the October-December 2025 quarter.
Samir Jasuja, Founder & CEO of PropEquity, commented: "Housing sales continued to moderate in the first quarter of 2026 with Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru emerging as outliers. This reduction is on account of low supply across most cities. Close to 22,000 lesser units were supplied in Q1 2026 as compared to the same period last year."
Regional Performance Highlights
The nine cities tracked include Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kolkata. While Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR bucked the trend with sales increases, most other markets reported declines:
- Bengaluru: Sales rose 3 percent to 17,991 units.
- Delhi-NCR: Sales increased 13 percent to 12,141 units.
- Mumbai: Sales fell 20 percent to 9,186 units.
- Pune: Sales dropped 25 percent to 16,144 units.
- Thane: Sales declined 24 percent to 15,959 units.
- Hyderabad: Sales decreased 16 percent to 11,546 units.
- Navi Mumbai: Sales fell 14 percent to 7,157 units.
- Chennai: Sales dipped 4 percent to 4,765 units.
- Kolkata: Sales saw an 8 percent decline to 3,872 units.
Expert Insights and Market Analysis
Industry experts attribute the overall slowdown to factors such as the ongoing West Asia conflict, which has impacted buyer sentiment. Bhavesh Kothari, Founder and CEO of Property First Realty, noted: "Bengaluru’s position as the top-selling market reflects strong demand driven by its technology ecosystem and steady job creation."
Umesh Gowda H A, Chairman and Founder of Sanjeevini Group, added: "Supply in Bengaluru remains aligned with demand, indicating calibrated pricing strategies by developers."
About PropEquity
PropEquity, part of the listed entity P E Analytics Ltd, is a leading real estate research firm that tracks over 1,80,000 projects by more than 60,000 developers across 50 cities. It provides critical data to institutional investors, banks, NBFCs, and real estate firms, offering insights into market trends and performance.
