Housing sales dip 1% last yr in top 8 cities, avg price grows up to 19%: Knight Frank

New Delhi: Housing sales fell 1 per cent last year to over 3.48 lakh units across eight major cities, with demand stagnating amid an average price rise of up to 19 per cent, according to Knight Frank.

In a virtual press conference on Wednesday, real estate consultant Knight Frank India noted that the decline in interest rates on home loans, strong economic growth and lower inflation were some of the key factors that helped in sustaining the housing demand during the 2025 calendar year despite fears of an impending correction.

As per the data, the housing sales declined 1 per cent in 2025 to 3,48,207 units across eight major cities of the country.

The data pertains to primary residential market only.

Knight Frank India CMD Shishir Baijal said the sales momentum continued last year despite rise in weighted average prices.

“The contribution of NRIs in housing sales has risen to 12-15 per cent from single digit a decade ago,” he told reporters.

On the outlook for 2026, Baijal said, “We are cautiously optimistic” for the residential market.

“I think the lowering of interest rates and the improving affordability should hopefully continue to promote residential sales,” he said.

Among cities, sales of residential properties in Mumbai region rose 1 per cent to 97,188 units.

The average housing price rose 7 per cent in the country’s financial capital to Rs 8,856 per sq ft. The housing sales in Bengaluru remained flat at 55,373 units while the average price grew 12 per cent to Rs 7,388 per sq ft.

In Pune, the sales dipped 3 per cent to 50,881 units, but prices appreciated 5 per cent to Rs 5,016 per sq ft.

Delhi-NCR saw a 9 per cent fall in sales last year to 52,452 units, while prices appreciated 19 per cent to Rs 6,028 per sq ft.

Sales in Hyderabad grew 4 per cent to 38,403 units, while prices rose 13 per cent to Rs 6,721 per sq ft.

In Ahmedabad, housing sales rose 2 per cent to 18,752 units. Prices in the Gujarat capital grew 3 per cent to Rs 3,197 per sq ft.

Chennai saw a 12 per cent growth in housing sales to 18,262 units. The Tamil Nadu capital witnessed a 7 per cent rise in average housing price to Rs 5135 per sq ft.

Sales in Kolkata declined 3 per cent annually during 2025 to 16,896 units.

The average price of residential properties in the West Bengal capital increased 6 per cent to Rs 4,037 per sq ft.

‘Kolkata office leasing hits decade high in 2025, residential market steady’

Kolkata’s office real estate market recorded its strongest performance in over a decade in 2025, with annual leasing volumes surging 69 per cent year-on-year to 2.3 million sq ft, Knight Frank India said.

This is the first time the city’s office sector crossed the 2 million sq ft threshold, it said.

The report – India Real Estate: Office and Residential Market, July-December 2025 – highlighted that office transactions in the second half of 2025 jumped 78 per cent on-year to 1.2 million sq ft.

Average office rents rose 16 per cent year-on-year to Rs 47.5 per sq ft per month, the highest rental growth recorded among India’s eight major office markets, it said.