Top 9 cities see 13% fall in Jan-Mar; volumes slip below 1 lakh after 18 quarters: PropEquity

Housing sales across nine major cities declined 13 per cent year-on-year to 98,761 units in the January-March quarter, slipping below the 1 lakh mark for the first time in 18 quarters, according to PropEquity.The fall in sales was largely attributed to lower fresh supply of housing inventory, with launches also witnessing a decline during the period.Data from the real estate research firm showed that sales stood at 1,13,602 units in the year-ago period, while sequentially they fell 6 per cent from 1,05,527 units in the October-December 2025 quarter, reported PTI. The nine cities tracked include Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.New housing supply dropped 19 per cent to 92,411 units in the March quarter from 1,14,718 units a year earlier, and was down 8 per cent compared to 1,00,525 units in the preceding quarter.“Housing sales continued to moderate in the first quarter of 2026 with Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru emerging as outliers. This reduction is on account of low supply across most cities. Close to 22,000 lesser units were supplied in Q1 2026 as compared to the same period last year,” said Samir Jasuja, Founder & CEO of PropEquity.Among key markets, Bengaluru saw a 3 per cent rise in sales to 17,991 units, while Delhi-NCR recorded a 13 per cent increase to 12,141 units.However, most other cities reported declines. Mumbai sales fell 20 per cent to 9,186 units, Pune dropped 25 per cent to 16,144 units, and Thane declined 24 per cent to 15,959 units. Hyderabad saw a 16 per cent fall to 11,546 units, while Navi Mumbai declined 14 per cent to 7,157 units.Chennai recorded a 4 per cent dip in sales to 4,765 units, and Kolkata saw an 8 per cent decline to 3,872 units during the quarter.Although the firm did not specify reasons for the drop in launches, industry experts cited the ongoing West Asia conflict as a factor affecting buyer sentiment.Commenting on the trend, Bhavesh Kothari, Founder and CEO of Property First Realty, said Bengaluru’s position as the top-selling market reflects strong demand driven by its technology ecosystem and steady job creation.Sanjeevini Group Chairman and Founder Umesh Gowda H A said supply in Bengaluru remains aligned with demand, indicating calibrated pricing strategies by developers.PropEquity, part of listed entity P E Analytics Ltd, tracks over 1,80,000 projects by more than 60,000 developers across 50 cities and provides data to institutional investors, banks, NBFCs and real estate firms.