Budget 2026-27: There has been a decline in residential sales in the top eight major cities of the country during the year 2025. According to data from real estate advisory company PropTiger, a total of 3,86,365 residential units were sold in these cities in 2025, which is about 12 percent less than the 4,36,992 units recorded in 2024. Increasing caution of buyers, high prices and impact of interest rates are considered to be the main reasons behind this decline. However, this situation does not indicate the end of demand, rather it shows that buyers are now taking decisions more thoughtfully than before.

Decline in sales of residential homes

However, major cities of South India have performed better during this recession. Residential sales in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai are expected to grow by 15 percent to more than 1.33 lakh units during 2025. In these cities, IT and service sector jobs, stable income and availability of affordable and mid-segment housing strengthened the demand. Apart from this, a slight increase in residential sales was also recorded in Kolkata, while sales have declined in big markets like Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Delhi-NCR, Pune and Ahmedabad.

Omkar S., Executive Director, Aurum Proptech. According to , the year 2025 should be considered a year of recombination rather than decline in demand. He says that developers adopted a balanced strategy by controlling the supply, due to which the prices remained stable despite the low sales. This makes it clear that despite market volatility, the real estate sector remains fundamentally strong.

Expecting big decisions

There are positive expectations in the real estate sector regarding the upcoming Union Budget. Industry experts believe that if the budget increases the tax exemption limit on home loans, gives relief in stamp duty and encourages affordable and mid-income housing, then housing demand can get a new impetus. Along with this, increased investment in urban infrastructure, roads, metro and connectivity projects is expected to provide long-term support to the real estate sector.

The real estate industry believes that policy stability and simple approval processes can play an important role in increasing investor confidence. According to experts, a balanced and visionary budget will not only bring relief to home buyers but will also create new opportunities for developers and investors, which can strengthen the growth of the real estate sector in the coming years.

What do experts say?

Experts associated with the real estate sector believe that policy stability and clarity will further strengthen investor confidence, which can boost domestic as well as foreign investment. He says if approval processes are simplified and reforms like single-window clearance are implemented, timely delivery of projects will be ensured and costs for developers will also be reduced. This will increase transparency in the entire sector and provide long-term strength to the market.

Neeraj K, Executive Director of Ganga Realty. Mishra says that the real estate sector plays an important role in the economic progress of the country and he expects practical relief from the upcoming budget. According to him, increasing the tax deduction limit on home loans and giving additional incentives to affordable housing will strengthen end-user demand. Additionally, continued focus on infrastructure development will create new employment opportunities and sustain the growth of the sector. A balanced and visionary budget can open doors to new possibilities for real estate.

At the same time, Saransh Trehan, Managing Director of Trehan Group, believes that mid-income and affordable housing needs to be given priority in the budget. He said that relief in stamp duty and simplification of approval processes will speed up the pace of projects. Also, increased investment in urban infrastructure and connectivity will support real estate demand in the long run and further strengthen home buyer confidence.

Real Estate News: Due to the continuous increase in house prices and the impact of layoffs in the information technology (IT) sector, a huge decline of 14 percent has been recorded in the sales of residential properties during the year 2025 in seven major cities of the country. According to the report released on Friday by real estate advisory company Anarock, despite the decline in sales, due to higher prices, the total selling value increased by six percent and reached more than Rs 6 lakh crore.

Decline in sales of residential properties

The report states that a total of 3,95,625 houses were sold in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai in 2025, while in 2024 this figure was 4,59,645 units. According to Anarock, residential demand remained under pressure this year due to rising housing prices, layoffs in the IT sector, geopolitical tensions and global economic uncertainties. Sales declined in six out of seven major cities, while Chennai was the only city where residential sales registered an increase.

If we look at city-wise figures, residential sales in Mumbai Metropolitan Region declined by 18 percent to 1,27,875 units. In Pune, sales declined by 20 percent to 65,135 units, while in Bengaluru, sales declined by five percent to 62,205 units. Home sales in Delhi-NCR, which has been a fast-growing market in the last few years, declined by eight percent to 57,220 units.

Impact of geopolitical turmoil and layoffs

Hyderabad recorded the highest decline of 23 percent and sales dropped to 44,885 units. Sales in Kolkata also declined by 12 percent to 16,125 units. In contrast, the residential market in Chennai performed better and sales there increased by 15 percent to 22,180 units.

According to the Anarock report, average residential prices in seven major cities are expected to rise by eight per cent to Rs 9,260 per sq ft by 2025, from Rs 8,590 per sq ft at the end of last year. Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri said that the year 2025 was full of geopolitical turmoil, layoffs in the IT sector and global economic uncertainties, but despite this, the pace of increase in residential prices has come down to single digits from double digits in previous years. He said that the performance of the residential real estate sector in the coming year will largely depend on how much the Reserve Bank of India cuts interest rates and what steps developers take to keep prices under control.

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