Housing Sales Plummet to 17-Quarter Low as Festive Season Fails to Boost Demand

India’s residential real estate market saw its weakest quarterly performance in over four years in the October–December period, underscoring a sharp slowdown in housing demand even during what is traditionally the strongest festive quarter for home sales.

Housing sales across India’s top nine cities fell 16 percent year-on-year to 98,019 units in the fourth quarter of 2025, marking the lowest quarterly absorption since Q3 2021, according to data from PropEquity, a real estate consultancy and analytics firm.

Data showed that on a sequential basis, sales declined 2 percent from the previous quarter. Except for Navi Mumbai and Delhi-NCR, which saw 13 percent and 4 percent growth in sales respectively in Q4 CY2025, all top seven cities saw a decline in sales up to 31 percent.

Market observers said that the decline is significant because the October–December period typically benefits from festive-season demand, developer discounts, and heightened buyer activity. This time, however, the seasonal tailwind failed to revive volumes.

Pune witnessed the steepest contraction with sales plunging 31 percent YoY, followed by Thane (26 percent) and Mumbai (25 percent). Hyderabad saw a 19 percent decline, Kolkata 11 percent, Chennai 3 percent, and Bengaluru 1 percent. On a QoQ basis, sales fell in most markets, even as Delhi-NCR and Navi Mumbai posted sequential growth.

Overall absorption across the top cities dropped from 1.16 lakh units in Q4 CY2024 to 98,019 units in Q4 CY2025, highlighting the sharp deceleration in buyer activity.

Explaining the trend, Samir Jasuja, Founder and CEO, PropEquity, said that the slowdown points to a structural shift rather than a demand collapse.

“Traditionally, the October–December period records strong sales momentum and new launches driven by the festive season. However, the recent decline reflects a shift toward premiumisation in the market, as evidenced by value growth despite a contraction in volumes. This trend has been continuing from 2024,” he said.

He highlighted that while unit launches have reduced, the overall value of new supply has increased, underscoring the move towards larger, higher-ticket homes. In 2023, around 4.81 lakh units were launched with a total value of Rs 6.3 lakh crore, whereas 2024 saw only 4.11 lakh units launched—about 70,000 fewer—but with a higher aggregate value of Rs 6.8 lakh crore.

New launches also slowed down. Data showed that total new housing launches across the top nine cities fell 10 percent year-on-year to 88,427 units in Q4 2025, compared with 98,664 units in the year-ago period. These were down 4 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

Here too, Delhi-NCR, Navi Mumbai, and Chennai were the only markets to see YoY growth in new supply—up 29 percent, 15 percent, and 9 percent, respectively. The remaining six cities recorded declines of up to 30 percent, reflecting developers’ cautious approach amid softer absorption.

Thane saw the sharpest YoY fall in launches at 30 percent, followed by Kolkata (23 percent), Pune (17 percent), Mumbai (16 percent), and Bengaluru (16 percent). Hyderabad launches declined 7 percent YoY.