Bengaluru: The luxury housing (units priced Rs 4 crore and above) segment saw a rise in sales of about 27 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the first half of 2024 (H1 2024) across four cities, according to a report by real estate consulting firm CBRE South Asia. However, Bengaluru stood as an anomaly, with only 10 sales, down from 200 in the same period in 2023.
The agency said this could primarily be due to a supply-demand mismatch.
Across the top seven cities, luxury housing sales in the April-June quarter (Q2) saw a 40.1 per cent increase YoY. Around 4,410 units were sold in Q2, compared with 3,150 units in the same quarter last year. H1 sales rose to about 8,500 units from 6,700 units in H1 2023.
The heightened demand for luxury housing has been primarily driven by a growing preference by affluent buyers seeking enhanced amenities and more spacious living areas, the report by CBRE said.
“This class of affluent buyers has also been on an upward trend. Furthermore, the rise in NRI and astute investors in the Indian real estate market has also considerably contributed to the surge. This aligns with the shift in buyer preferences towards high-end units launched by leading developers, as evidenced by the substantial market share of tier-I developers. The shift is expected to persist,” it said.
Regarding the dip in Bengaluru’s numbers, Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO, India, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE, told DH that, "The dip in sales in Bengaluru may be momentary and attributed to a reduced supply of luxury housing during H1. From now on, we can expect a rise in H2 in luxury housing sales across the cities due to the upcoming festive season.”
Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad saw a rise in luxury units sold in H1 2024 from H1 2023, while Chennai and Kolkata saw flat growth.
At the same time, Bengaluru was amongst the top three cities in the Indian housing market overall, which maintained a robust momentum with a total sales of 1.56 lakh units, and over 1.53 lakh new units launched across all categories. In total residential sales, Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru emerged as the leading cities accounting for a 63 per cent share during H1.
"We foresee a strong momentum in the housing market for the remainder of the year. This optimism is driven by favourable homebuying sentiments, festive season promotions, and significant land acquisitions by developers,” Magazine said in a statement.
Mid and high-end housing categories are expected to remain the primary drivers of India’s residential market, the report said.