Luxury home-buyers surge as housing demand hits ceiling in 8 cities

Housing sales in India hit an 11-year high of 1.73 lakh units, and office demand reached a record 3.47 crore square feet across eight major cities from January to June.

This was revealed in the report `India Real Estate: residential and office for January to July' released by the global real estate consultant Knight Frank.

Shishir Baijal, chairman and managing director of Knight Frank India, said, “Strong growth momentum is reflected in the robust performance of the Indian real estate markets.” 

As a result, the report said, the residential and office segments recorded decadal-high numbers. Mr. Baijal mentioned that premium housing formed 34 percent of all sales in the first half of 2024.

Gurgram's luxury homes

Within NCR, Gurugram, in particular, has emerged as a preferred choice for luxury homebuyers. 

There is a large presence of high net-worth individuals (HNIs) and Ultra HNIs and a significant rise in the number of affluent millennials in the region, who prefer to stay close to work and are willing to go the extra mile for their convenience and indulgent lifestyle, said Aakash Ohri, Joint Managing Director & Chief Business Officer, DLF Homes.

The surge in demand for homes underscores a fundamental shift in people's perception of home ownership. The value of having a place to call home has become more apparent than ever before

During Jan-June 2024, housing sales in Mumbai increased by 16 percent annually to 47,259 units, while office space leasing in the city surged 79 percent to 5.8 million square feet.

In Delhi-NCR, housing sales fell 4 percent to 28,998 units, but office space demand grew 11.5 percent to 57 lakh square feet.

Oh, Kolkata!

Bengaluru saw a 4 percent growth in housing sales to 27,404 units and a 21 percent rise in office demand to 84 lakh square feet.

Chennai saw a 12 percent growth in residential property sales to 7,975 units, but office demand fell 33 percent to 30 lakh square feet.

Kolkata saw a 25 percent growth in housing sales to 9,130 units. The city also saw a 23 per cent rise in office space leasing to 7 lakh million square feet.

Ohri said that the substantial returns offered by residential properties, especially luxury homes, have fueled an increasing trend of purchasing homes for investment purposes. He added that there has also been a newly stirred-up insistence on luxurious integrated townships that offer home buyers affluent homes, safety, and security.

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