Indian luxury homes claim larger share of sales, report says

The share of luxury homes sold in India has tripled over the past five years, according to a report by property consultant Anarock Group.

Luxury homes, categorized as those priced over 15 million rupees ($179,650), made up 21 per cent of all residential units sold across the top seven Indian cities in the first quarter of 2024, according to a report released Friday. It was 7 per cent for the same period in 2019.

The boom in India's property market comes amid strong economic growth and demand from non-resident Indians. Earlier this year, DLF Ltd.'s luxury project consisting of more than 1,100 homes near the capital New Delhi sold out in three days even before starting construction, with a quarter bought by non-resident Indians.

Affordable housing units saw their share of sales decline to 18 per cent from 37 per cent in the same period, while the mid-range and premium housing segment "- homes priced between 4 million rupees to 15 million rupees "- remained the dominant segment with nearly 59 per cent share.

"The luxury segment is driven by a mounting appetite for bigger homes by branded developers in superior locations," Anuj Puri, chairman of Anarock, said in the report. Affordable houses are "nowhere near to recouping its stellar sales share in 2019," he said.

The shift in trend is also visible in the new supply of houses. Luxury homes now account for 25 per cent of new units, up from 11 per cent in 2019, while affordable housing supply has declined to 18 per cent from 40 per cent in the same period.