Karnataka capital Bengaluru, one of the most expensive real estate markets in India, saw a surge in housing prices and rentals but suffered a hit in sales.

India’s property market witnessed steady demand in the first three months of the year, with housing sales and office leasing increasing across eight cities, real estate consultant Knight Frank said in its ‘India Real Estate’ report, which was released on Monday.

Knight Frank assessed the real estate markets of eight prominent cities, namely, Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Ahmedabad. The consultancy said all eight cities posted an year-on-year (yoy) growth in per square feet prices of residential properties during January – March this year.

Housing sales rose 1 per cent, while gross office space leasing grew by 5 per cent year-on-year across the eight cities, it added. Housing prices saw the most advancement in Karnataka capital Bengaluru, at 7 per cent, whereas Mumbai’s housing prices grew by 6 per cent. Meanwhile, Hyderabad and Chennai’s prices rose 5 per cent each in the first quarter of 2023.

Bengaluru was also one of the three cities that saw the highest spike in rentals along with Hyderabad and Chennai, which was 5 per cent, while Pune and Mumbai saw a 4 per cent growth each. Bengaluru’s office market stood steady with leasing of 3.5 million square feet, making it the most active market during Q1 of 2023. This transacted volume accounted for 31 per cent of the total area transacted during the period. However, Bengaluru’s housing sales suffered a hit and dropped 2 per cent to 13,390 units.

“Sales grew the most in the Hyderabad market at 19 per cent year-on-year while sales in the larger markets of Mumbai and Bengaluru dropped 6 per cent and 2 per cent year-on-year,” the report said.

source : hindustan times