The sale of apartments in India’s top seven residential property market will show a 4 per cent dip in 2024 on the back of fewer launches even as builders are laughing all the way to the bank with a 16 per cent rise in transaction value as property prices hardened across the country.

According to a report prepared by real estate consultancy firm Anarock, these seven cities will see 4,59,650 units worth ₹5.68 lakh crore being sold in 2024 compared with 4,76,530 units worth ₹4.88 lakh crore sold in 2023.

With three more working days to go before the close of the calendar year, Calcutta will end up being at the bottom of the residential markets and experiencing steepest cut in volume.

A total of 18,335 units are projected to be sold in this city, down by 20 per cent from 23,030 units in 2023.

The research is predicting a 21 per cent rise in prices for seven cities combined, which made up the fall in volume and led to higher sales by value for the developers. Calcutta, however, again ended at the bottom of the pyramid with a lease price escalation of 13 per cent.

Anarock suggested that average city level prices in 2024 for Calcutta stood at ₹5,820 per square feet compared with ₹5,510 per square feet in 2023. Delhi- National Capital Region (NCR) recorded highest rise (30 per cent) to ₹7,550 per square feet on average, even as Mumbai continued to be costliest to own home, with prices soaring by 21 per cent to ₹16,600 per square feet on average in 2024.

Bengaluru and Mumbai are the only two cities that recorded a higher number of unit sales (volume growth) among the seven cities.

New launches, which usually create excitement among buyers and drive sales volume, was projected to be the key reason for lower sales volume across the cities, showing a 7 per cent decline combined and 15 per cent in Calcutta.

Anuj Puri, chairman of Anarock described 2024 as a ‘mixed bag’.

“Apart from the dampening effect of general and assembly elections, project approvals slowed down markedly; this inevitably impacted new housing supply. While sales also saw a marginal decline when compared with 2023, this was offset by a 16 per cent jump in the overall sales value, thanks to average price appreciation and increasing unit sizes,” Puri said.

Luxury housing demand and new supply increased substantially in 2024 as homebuyers continued to look for bigger, better homes by branded developers, a trend seen post-pandemic.

The new luxury supply addition across the top seven cities rose by 24 per cent in 2024 against 2023.