Residential searches jump 7%, outpacing rental demand in metro cities, says report

Residential property searches across 13 metro cities grew by 7% year-on-year (YoY) between July and September 2024, outpacing a 3.1% YoY rise in rental searches, according to a report by Magicbricks. The covered cities include Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Greater Noida, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Bengaluru, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.

Cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai emerged as hotspots for residential searches. Bengaluru recorded an 18.2% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase in residential searches, alongside a 2.8% QoQ decline in rental demand. Delhi witnessed growth in both segments, with residential searches rising 17.2% QoQ and rental searches increasing 9.9%. In Mumbai, residential searches rose by 7.9% QoQ, while rental demand declined by 4.7%. However, Greater Noida bucked the trend, with rental demand continuing to surpass residential demand.

The report also highlighted rental yields across key cities, with Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, and Navi Mumbai maintaining an average yield of 3.6%. Delhi’s rental yield edged up to 2.5% in Q3 2024, compared to 2.3% in the previous quarter.

The residential market continued to demonstrate robust performance across India’s top eight cities. Home sales reached 87,108 units in Q3 2024, the highest quarterly growth of the year at 5% YoY, according to data from Knight Frank India. Total residential sales during the first nine months of 2024 stood at 2,60,349 units, a 9% rise compared to the same period in 2023. Mumbai led the market with 24,222 units sold, marking its best quarterly sales volume since 2018.

Meanwhile, the Bengaluru office market accounted for 28% of the total office transactions across the top eight cities, with a transaction volume of 5.3 million sq. ft. in Q3 2024, the highest among all cities.

Knight Frank India Chairman and MD Shishir Baijal noted the sustained demand for high-value properties, especially in the National Capital Region (NCR). “While NCR saw a 7% decline in overall sales this quarter, high-end properties (₹1 crore and above) accounted for 46% of all sales in Q3 2024, a notable increase from the previous year. With a stable economic outlook and potential rate cuts, the demand for residential properties is expected to maintain its momentum as the year draws to a close,” Baijal said.