'Festive cheer fades': India’s housing market hits 17‑quarter slump, sales drop 16% in Q4 2025

By A Representative

Housing sales across India’s nine major real estate markets fell to a 17‑quarter low in the October–December period of 2025, with overall absorption dropping 16% year‑on‑year to 98,019 units, according to NSE‑listed analytics firm PropEquity. This marks the weakest quarter since Q3 2021, despite the festive season that usually drives demand. On a sequential basis, sales slipped 2%, while new launches contracted by 4%.

The report covers Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Thane, and Delhi‑NCR. Among these, only Delhi‑NCR and Navi Mumbai recorded growth in sales and supply. Delhi‑NCR saw sales rise 4% year‑on‑year to 12,212 units, alongside a 29% jump in new supply to 14,307 units. Navi Mumbai registered a 13% increase in sales to 8,434 units and a 15% rise in supply to 7,330 units.

In contrast, Pune witnessed the steepest decline, with absorption plunging 31% year‑on‑year to 15,788 units and supply falling 17% to 13,825 units. Mumbai sales dropped 25% to 9,135 units, while supply fell 16% to 7,643 units. Bengaluru recorded a marginal 1% dip in sales to 15,603 units and a 16% fall in supply to 15,587 units. Chennai saw sales decline 3% to 4,542 units but supply grew 9% to 3,455 units. Hyderabad sales fell 19% to 11,323 units and supply dropped 7% to 9,773 units. Kolkata reported an 11% decline in sales to 3,995 units and a 23% fall in supply to 3,742 units. Thane sales contracted 26% to 16,987 units, while supply fell 30% to 12,765 units.

Samir Jasuja, Founder and CEO of PropEquity, said the slowdown reflects a structural shift in the market.

“Traditionally, the October–December period records strong sales momentum and new launches driven by the festive season. However, the recent decline reflects a shift toward premiumisation in the market, as evidenced by value growth despite a contraction in volumes. This trend has been continuing from 2024,” he noted.

Overall new supply across the nine cities fell 10% year‑on‑year to 88,427 units. Jasuja added that the outlook for 2026 is more positive, supported by a low base in 2025 and significant funds raised by developers. He said improved transmission of the cumulative 125 basis points repo rate cut could lower home loan rates, while government support remains a key driver.

PropEquity, owned by P.E. Analytics Ltd., claims to be India’s largest online real estate data and analytics platform, covering over 1,70,000 projects across 44 cities with more than 17 years of catalogued data. The firm says, it adds approximately 700 projects every month, positioning itself as a leading business intelligence provider in the realty space.

Comments

Beyond India-China borders: Economic links expand, political gaps persist

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* Despite growing trade between India and China, a persistent trust deficit continues to shape their bilateral relationship. Expanding economic engagement has not fully resolved political differences, many of which stem from historical legacies as well as contemporary geopolitical concerns. Border disputes—often traced to colonial-era arrangements—remain a significant obstacle to deeper cooperation, while differing strategic alignments in global affairs add further complexity.

Gujarat cadre to HDFC: When bureaucratic style hits corporate walls

By Rajiv Shah I was a little amused by the abrupt March 17, 2026 resignation of Atanu Chakraborty —a Gujarat cadre IAS officer of the 1985 batch who retired from the government in 2020—as chairman of HDFC Bank . Much of what may have led to his decision to quit this ostensibly high post—actually a non-executive, part-time role—is by now well known. I followed most of it online with considerable interest, partly because I had interacted with him umpteen times during my stint as The Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar from 1997 to 2012.

Operation Epic Fury: Making America great at the world’s expense?

By N.S. Venkataraman* The decades-long enmity between Iran and Israel is well-documented, but historically, their direct confrontations have been brief, constrained by the logistical and economic limitations of sustained warfare. The current conflict in the Middle East, however, marks a radical and dangerous departure from this pattern.

India has been getting its economic growth wrong for two decades, say top economists

By Jag Jivan* India's official GDP figures have misrepresented the trajectory of the world's fifth-largest economy for the better part of two decades, according to a major new working paper published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). It finds that India overstated annual growth by up to two percentage points after 2011 — and understated it during the boom years of the 2000s.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

'Tax the top': Nationwide protests demand action as 1% control 40% of India’s wealth

By A Representative Civil rights groups across the country observed the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh on March 23, as people from diverse backgrounds united to raise their voices against growing economic inequality. The mobilisations marked the launch of a nationwide campaign against inequality, running from March 23 to April 14 (Ambedkar Jayanti), under the banner of the “Tax The Top” campaign.

Fair prices, fresh produce: Vegetable market opens in Rajasthan tribal village

By Vikas Meshram* On 18 March 2026, the tribal village of Sajjangarh in southern Rajasthan witnessed the grand and dignified inauguration of a new vegetable market (mandi). Established through the tireless joint efforts of the Krushi Avam Adivasi Swaraj Sangathan (Bhilkuaan) and Vaagdhara, under the active leadership of the Gram Panchayat of Sajjangarh, the market is being hailed as a cornerstone for local self-governance, self-reliance, and a sustainable rural economy.

Ex-IAS Atanu Chakraborty and a tale of two different Gujarat vision documents

By Rajiv Shah The likely appointment of Atanu Chakraborty as HDFC Bank chairman interested me for several reasons, but above all because I have interacted with him closely during my more than 14 year stint in Gandhinagar for the “Times of India”. One of the few decent Gujarat cadre bureaucrats, Chakraborty, belonging to the 1985 IAS batch, at least till I covered Sachivalaya was surely above controversies. He loved to remain faceless, never desired publicity, was professional to the core, and never indulged in loose talk. When he neared retirement, which happened in April 2020, first there were rumours in Sachivalaya that he would be appointed SEBI chairman, and then there was talk he would be chairman (or was it CEO?) of Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City (a dream project of Narendra Modi as Gujarat chief minister, which as Prime Minister Modi wants to promote, come what may). But, for some strange reasons, and I don’t know why, none of this happened, despite the fact...

Search This Blog