Mumbai’s home sales hit a 13-year high, with 96,187 units sold in 2024, reflecting an impressive 11 per cent increase, while sales in the second half of 2024 rose by 6 per cent on a year-on-year basis. Most markets remain at multi-year peaks across cities, with Hyderabad and Pune achieving record highs in 2024.
In contrast, the Delhi-NCR market experienced a slight decline, with sales dropping by 4 per cent on both annual and semi-annual bases. These are some of the findings of Knight Frank India’s India Real Estate report, which looked at the residential and office space scenario across eight cities, including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.
The report said that the residential real estate market in India witnessed remarkable growth since the pandemic. Driven by higher savings during the lockdown, stable incomes in middle and upper-income groups, household wealth creation, and the country’s strong economic performance, primary market sales increased at an annualized rate of 23 per cent since 2020.
“Annual sales volumes hit a 12-year high, 3.5 lakh units sold, marking a 7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth throughout the year while the 1.8 lakh units sold in the second half of 2024 represent a 3 per cent YoY increase,” the report said.
In the case of the luxury space, the units priced above Rs 1 crore make up nearly half the residential market, with the segment accounting for 27 per cent of sales with a 15 per cent YoY growth, while the Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore segment is leading with a 62 per cent YoY surge, growing its share from 10 per cent in the second half (H2) of 2023 to 15 per cent in H2 2024. Conversely, sales priced under Rs 50 lakh, and Rs 50 lakh to one crore categories, as well as in the ultra-luxury segment above 50 crores, dipped in volume.
According to the report, the developers launched 3.7 lakh units in 2024, an 11-year high, leading to increased unsold inventory. While sales have seen healthy growth overall, the unsold inventory has consistently increased since 2020 as supply levels have exceeded sales.
Despite this, the quarters-to-sell (QTS) metric—a measure of how quickly inventory clears—improved to 5.8 quarters, reflecting healthy market fundamentals. Even in high-value segments like Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore, QTS levels stood at 3.9 and 4.2 quarters, respectively.
Generally, a lower QTS level denotes greater sales traction and better market health.
Bengaluru, NCR, Mumbai—massively transacted areas
Transaction volumes in the office market in 2024 reached 6.68 million sqm (71.9 million sqft), exceeding the previously highest figures of 2019 by 19 per cent.
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Bengaluru, NCR, and Mumbai, which contributed 57 per cent of the total transacted area, were the key drivers of growth. Bengaluru led with 0.90 million sqm (9.7 million sqft) transacted in H2 2024. Pune and Ahmedabad also achieved record annual transaction volumes, while Chennai was the only market to see a decline, given a high base effect and constrained supply.
India-facing businesses accounted for 36 per cent of total transacted volumes in 2024, whereas the Global Capability Centres (GCCs) were another major contributor, taking up 31 per cent of transactions.
Flexible office spaces witness hike
In 2024, all end-use categories saw YoY growth, with flex spaces leading at 52 per cent. Flex operators took up 1.47 million sqm (15.8 million sqft), a record-high consequence of the much higher incidence of small businesses taking up co-working spaces that drove the demand in flex spaces. Co-working spaces dominated, constituting 68 per cent of flex transactions, up from 58 per cent in 2023. H2 2024 saw a 138 per cent YoY surge in flex space absorption to 0.8 million sqm (8.6 million sqft), the report said.
Office completions totalled 2.34 million sqm (25.2 million sqft) in H2 2024, slightly down 1 per cent YoY, while vacancy rates dropped from 17.2 per cent in H2 2021 to 15 per cent in H2 2024. NCR and Chennai recorded the lowest vacancies at 8.4 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively.
Limited supply and high demand pushed rents up by 3-7 per cent YoY, with Hyderabad leading at 7 per cent, followed by Bengaluru and Chennai at 6 per cent each, the Knight Frank report said.
