Huge Opportunity In Offing For India's Luxury Housing Market Amid New Launches, Says Knight Frank’s Gulam Zia

The upper end of the residential market in India is poised to see a huge movement as long as companies can tackle their velocity of sales, Knight Frank India’s Senior Executive Director Gulam Zia has said.

Zia’s comments come after Knight Frank India recently released a report saying that homebuyer affordability across major cities in India improved in 2024 amid steady income growth and relatively stable interest rates.

Talking to NDTV Profit, Zia said that the Indian real estate market is in for a huge movement in the luxury segment.

“As long as that velocity of sale concern is tackled, you shall see a huge movement in the upper end of the market, and the lower end mid to lower end shall remain where it is,” he said.

While new launches have been “sparse” in the mid to lower end of the residential market, the mid to upper end of this sector saw several launches.

“The new launches have been very sparse, very rare in the mid to lower end because everybody was focusing on mid to upper end, and that is where a huge amount of supplies have come in,” the Knight Frank India executive explained.

“But if you look at the velocity of sales as well, every quarter, how many apartments these developers are selling in their projects, those numbers are still looking very good,” he said.

In Mumbai and Delhi, the uber-luxury segment is doing very well in terms of sales.

“In fact, these are the only two cities where you see apartments that are valued at more than Rs 20-50 crore. And that is a segment where it's not so worrisome,” he said. 

A huge amount of inventory infusion in Mumbai in this segment also suggests that the sales numbers have been shooting up.

“The segment of Rs 20 crore to Rs 50 crore has seen a huge inventory infusion in Mumbai, especially, which means that their velocity of sales has been actually shooting up,” Zia mentioned. 

“And in times to come, we may see some bloodbath in that segment where a huge inventory has come in,” he added.

In comparison, sales have been stable in other categories, the top executive said.

“As far as the mid to lower end and the super upper to upper higher end are concerned, the velocity of sales is absolutely under control, and within a year or two, if you're selling the wares that you're creating, it's a very good situation to be in,” he explained.