Kolkata, Apr 14 (UNI) Affordable housing took a major hit post-pandemic as buyers in this segment adopted a cautious approach, with new supply and sales plummeting in recent years.

But latest ANAROCK research highlights a promising trend - unsold inventory in the affordable housing segment ( Rs 40 lakh) fell by 19 percent across the top 7 cities in the past year, from 1.40 lakh units (Q1 2024-end) to 1.13 lakh units (Q1 2025-end).

On the other hand, luxury housing ( > Rs 1.5 Cr) saw a 24 pc surge in unsold stock, rising from 91,125 units (Q1 2024-end) to over 1.13 lakh units (Q1 2025-end), fuelled by robust demand and new supply.

City-wise, Bengaluru led the affordable category recovery with a sharp 51 pc drop in unsold stock, followed by Chennai's 44 pc decline. Hyderabad was the only city to witness a 9 pc surge in its affordable housing stock in the period, to about 1,815 units by Q1 2025-end.

"Affordable housing faced the sharpest pandemic fallout, with sales and new launches shrinking in the top 7 cities as the data shows that affordable housing sales share plummeted from 38 pc in 2019 to 18 pc in 2024, while its supply share dropped from 40 pc to 16 pc in the same period.

However, a 19 pc dip in unsold stock hints at sustained demand led by end-users." ANAROCK Group Chairman Anuj Puri said on Monday.

"In contrast, luxury housing soared, with its sales share rising from 7 pc in 2019 to 26 pc in 2024, and new supply share doubling from 11 pc to 26 pc," he said.

"Nevertheless, the segment saw unsold inventory pile up due to increased supply and cautious investor sentiment amid the ongoing global economic uncertainty. Our data shows that unsold stock of luxury housing-units priced over Rs 1.5 crore - rose 24 pc annually from about 91,125 units by Q1 2024-end to over 1.13 lakh units by Q1 2025-end." he pointed out.

Among the top 7 cities, Chennai and Pune were the only cities to see their unsold luxury stock decline in the period, by 4 pc and 11 pc, respectively. While Chennai’s current unsold luxury stock is at 2,453 units, Pune’s is at 3,668 units. NCR, MMR, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru also saw their unsold luxury stock rise.

"The build-up of stock in luxury housing, which has been the top-performing segment in the past 2-3 years, is largely due to significant supply additions in the last one to two years," Puri maintained.

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