Sales at three-year low, supply at four-year low: Housing market tightens in 2025

By A Representative 

India’s residential real estate market moved into a phase of measured normalisation in calendar year 2025, with housing demand moderating after two years of strong post-pandemic recovery, even as prices across major cities remained firm, according to PropTiger.com’s annual report Real Insight – Residential CY 2025. The report indicates that while buyer activity softened, the market avoided stress due to disciplined supply, resilient end-user demand, and sustained cost pressures that supported pricing.

Across the top eight cities, all-India residential sales declined 12% year-on-year to 3,86,365 units in 2025, compared to 4,36,992 units in 2024, marking the lowest annual sales since 2022. Quarterly trends showed a gradual easing rather than a sharp contraction. In the October–December quarter (Q4 2025), sales fell 10% year-on-year and 0.5% quarter-on-quarter to 95,049 units, the lowest quarterly volume since Q2 2023. Sales moderated steadily through the year, declining from 98,095 units in Q1 2025 to 95,049 units in Q4, reflecting a re-timing of purchases as buyers became more cautious amid higher prices and macro uncertainty.

Commenting on the trend, Onkar Shetye, Executive Director of Aurum PropTech, said 2025 should not be seen as a year of demand erosion but one of recalibration. He noted that buyers remained active but more deliberate, while developers adopted disciplined supply strategies, preventing inventory overhang and allowing prices to remain resilient despite lower transaction volumes.

City-level data revealed widening divergence in market performance. Mumbai recorded one of the sharpest slowdowns, with annual sales declining 26% to 1,05,595 units, while Pune saw a 27% drop to 59,223 units. Delhi NCR remained under consolidation pressure, posting a 13% annual decline in sales to 35,711 units and remaining the only major market to record year-on-year declines across all four quarters of 2025. In contrast, southern markets outperformed, with Bengaluru registering a 13% annual increase to 54,414 units, Chennai witnessing a sharp 55% rise to 24,892 units, and Hyderabad growing 6% to 54,271 units. Kolkata also posted a 12% increase in annual sales, while Ahmedabad saw a 12% decline.

On the supply side, new residential launches across the eight cities fell 6% year-on-year to 3,61,096 units in 2025, down from 3,85,221 units in 2024, making it the lowest annual supply addition since 2021. Developers remained cautious amid moderated demand, focusing on execution and absorption of existing inventory rather than aggressive expansion. However, supply showed some recovery towards the end of the year, with Q4 2025 launches rising 4% year-on-year and marginally quarter-on-quarter to 92,007 units.

Mumbai saw a 25% annual decline in new supply, while Pune’s supply fell 17% and Ahmedabad’s dropped 20%. In contrast, Bengaluru added 13% more supply year-on-year, Chennai recorded a 49% surge, Hyderabad saw an 18% increase, and Kolkata nearly doubled its annual supply base, albeit from a low base. These trends reflected stronger developer confidence in select southern and eastern markets, where demand absorption remained relatively robust.

Despite softer sales volumes, residential prices continued to rise across key markets through 2025. PropTiger attributed this to limited ready-to-move inventory, elevated construction and financing costs, and calibrated new launches. Developers largely avoided aggressive discounting, reinforcing pricing discipline and indicating a shift towards a more mature, execution-led market environment.

Looking ahead, industry observers expect growth in 2026 to be driven less by broad-based expansion and more by affordability-led segments, infrastructure-driven micro-markets, and city-specific fundamentals. As Shetye noted, the housing market appears to be transitioning into a phase where sustainability, project delivery, and local demand drivers will play a larger role than headline volume growth.