Summary of this article
Sales fall below 100,000 units
Supply crunch limits buyer choices
Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR buck slowdown trend
The Indian residential real estate market has shown signs of moderate slowdown in the first quarter of 2026. Housing sales fell below 100,000 units for the very first time in the last 18 quarters. This decline has been due to a combination of reduced supply of new units and shifting demand dynamics across the major urban centres, according to a report by PropEquity.
Total housing sales across the top nine cities stood at 98,761 units through the January-March 2026 quarter, a drop of 13 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) and 6 per cent from the previous quarter. This slowdown was seen in the new launches too, which dropped by 19 per cent on a yearly basis and 8 per cent on a quarterly basis to 92,411 units.
According to the report, the dip in sales has been largely due to a constrained supply. A total of 22,000 lesser units were launched during the January-March 2026 quarter as compared to the year-ago period, which limited buyer options and also slowed transaction volumes.
Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR See Uptick In Sales
Among the top nine cities, only Bengaluru and Delhi-National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR) bucked the trend and showed an uptick in sales. Bengaluru recorded 17,991 units in sales, up by 16 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) basis and 3 per cent annually, while Delhi-NCR saw a total of 12,141 units in sales, up by 13 per cent y-o-y and 1 per cent q-o-q. In terms of launches, Delhi-NCR saw the highest growth, up by 89 per cent on an annual basis and 8 per cent 8 per cent on a quarterly basis at 17,227 units.
“Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru saw similar levels of housing supply in Q1, the former witnessed lesser absorption as compared to the latter as high-ticket launches impacted the sales in Delhi-NCR. Also, it is for the first time post-COVID that Delhi-NCR has seen more supply than Pune, Hyderabad and Thane – the traditional high supply markets,” said Samir Jasuja, founder and CEO, PropEquity
The nature of supply in Delhi NCR has affected the sales. A higher proportion of premium or high-ticket projects has impacted the affordability and slowed down the absorption as compared to Bengaluru. Comparatively, the demand remains evenly distributed across the price segment.
Dip In Sales In Other Major Cities
Among the metros, Mumbai saw a major drop in sales (20 per cent annually), while Kolkata and Chennai, saw dip in sales in the range 4-8 per cent annually. Pune, Thane and Hyderabad also saw a significant drop in sales by 25 per cent, 24 per cent and 16 per cent on a year-on-year basis, respectively.
Incidentally, Chennai also saw a massive drop in new launches (down by 62 per cent on an annual basis).
The trajectory of the Indian residential housing sales is dependent on how fast supply stabilises and if developers can match current demand requirements and patterns. In essence, Q1 2026 is reflecting a transitional phase for the Indian housing market, which is experiencing constrained supply rather than a low demand rate.
