India's residential real estate market is witnessing a structural shift from volume-led to value-led growth. According to the latest CREDAI–Liases Foras report, the primary residential market recorded over ₹8.46 lakh crore in sales value in 2025, with homes priced above ₹1 crore accounting for nearly 78% of the total sales value. Meanwhile, affordable housing continues to face supply and affordability challenges, prompting discussions around the future direction of the sector.
At the same time, affordable housing continues to face pressure from rising land, labour and construction costs. Through this story, we aim to understand whether premium housing is set to become the long-term growth engine of India's residential market.
Sanchit Jain, Director, Sarvottam India, says,
India's residential market is undergoing a structural transformation, with premium housing emerging as the primary driver of value creation. Rising disposable incomes, evolving lifestyle aspirations, increasing demand for larger, future-ready homes, and a growing preference for branded developments have significantly strengthened the luxury segment. At the same time, real estate has re-established itself as a preferred investment asset, with affluent buyers and NRIs increasingly viewing premium homes as long-term wealth creators offering both capital appreciation and stable returns. Markets such as Greater Noida are witnessing this shift first-hand, where rapid infrastructure development, seamless connectivity through Jewar International Airport, metro expansion, and expressways are attracting both end-users and investors to premium residential developments. While this segment is expected to remain a key growth engine over the next three to five years, sustainable industry growth requires a balanced housing ecosystem. Affordable and mid-income housing continue to cater to India's largest demand base, and with stronger policy support, improved affordability, and infrastructure-led development, these segments will remain indispensable to inclusive urban growth and long-term market resilience.
Aditya Goel, Co-Founder One Prastha Said,
What's driving premium housing today isn't just capital, it's a sense of belonging. Post-pandemic, people re-evaluated what home ownership actually means to them, and that shift has translated directly into stronger demand for well-designed, higher-value spaces. There will always be a market for both luxury and balanced housing, but I do believe premium will continue to lead over the next few years. According to data cited by IBEF, sales of apartments in the ₹2- 5 Crore band grew 400% from 2019 to 2024. Rising disposable incomes are a factor, but so is the geographic spread of quality development. Luxury is no longer confined to metros, it's moving into tier-2 and tier-3 markets as developers follow demand there. The bigger change is in mindset: buyers today want to actively enjoy an asset, not just hold it. For affordable and mid-income housing, this means the segment will need to compete on livability and design, not price alone.
Nitya Reddy, Marketing Head, Signature One Developers Said,
India's housing market is undoubtedly evolving and what we're seeing today is a clear shift in buyer aspirations. Rising incomes, greater wealth creation, and changing lifestyle expectations have accelerated demand for premium homes. Today's homebuyer is looking beyond square footage—they value thoughtfully designed spaces, integrated communities, wellness amenities, and long-term value. Hyderabad, in particular, has witnessed this transformation, supported by a strong IT ecosystem, infrastructure growth and increasing interest from NRIs and high-income professionals.
That said, the industry's long-term growth cannot depend on one segment alone. While premium housing is likely to remain a strong growth driver over the next few years, balanced development across affordable, mid-income, and premium categories is essential. Each segment serves a distinct need, and sustained growth will require greater affordability, policy support, and supply across the spectrum. A healthy housing market is one that caters to aspiration as well as accessibility, ensuring homeownership remains within reach for a wider cross-section of buyers.
Smriti Bhatnagar, Assistant Director, Design Forum International Puts,
The surge in India’s premium housing is a structural evolution driven by rising urban affluence,nuclearisation, and an aspirational shift toward global lifestyles. Today, buyers view homes asdeep extensions of identity, prioritising wellness, advanced smart technology and privacy overmere square footage.While the luxury segment will heavily steer market value over the next 3–5 years, the real estateindustry's long-term resilience cannot rest on a single pillar. Sustained, equitable growthrequires a balanced ecosystem that accommodates mid-income, affordable, and rental housingto meet India's diverse demographic needs.Far from diminishing the affordable sector, this premium wave acts as a catalyst. It elevatesdesign benchmarks across the board, urging architects and developers to innovate through efficient spatial planning, alternative delivery models and optimised tech ensuring aspirational,high-quality living remains accessible to all economic strata.
Mr. Manish Jain, President, CREDAI Pune Said,
India's residential market is steadily evolving from a volume-led to a value-led growth story, and Pune is a strong reflection of this shift. In the first half of 2026, Pune recorded the sale of over 44,000 homes worth ₹37,048 crore, while the average home value rose to ₹84 lakh, nearly 40% higher than four years ago. Sales of homes priced above ₹2 crore have grown by an impressive 220% during this period, reflecting rising purchasing power, the continued growth of Global Capability Centres (GCCs), the IT sector and the automotive industry, along with improving infrastructure and changing lifestyle aspirations. We believe premium housing will continue to be an important growth driver over the next three to five years. However, the long-term strength of the housing market will depend on balanced growth across all segments. The ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore category continues to be Pune's strongest-performing segment, highlighting sustained end-user demand. Affordable and mid-income housing remain vital for first-time homebuyers and the city's expanding workforce. Continued policy support, faster approvals and measures that improve affordability will be equally important to ensure the market remains inclusive, resilient and sustainable.
Mr. Vineet Dawar, President-Sales & Strategy, Elan Group shared,
The residential market is witnessing a decisive shift towards value-led growth, with homebuyers placing greater emphasis on quality, location and the overall living experience than ever before. This transition is being shaped by rising aspirations, expanding wealth creation and the rapid evolution of infrastructure across established premium corridors such as Dwarka Expressway and Sohna Road. Buyers today are looking for integrated developments that bring together thoughtful design, open spaces, lifestyle amenities and seamless connectivity within a single ecosystem. We believe this demand will remain resilient over the next few years as premium housing continues to evolve beyond ownership into a lifestyle choice. Going forward, projects that are well planned, located in high-growth corridors and capable of delivering enduring value will continue to define the next phase of residential real estate.
Ashish Jerath, President – Sales & Marketing, Smartworld Developers said,
The momentum in premium and luxury housing is being driven by rising incomes, wealth creation, rapid urbanisation, and changing buyer aspirations. Today, people are not just buying a home; they are investing in a lifestyle. They are looking for larger homes, better design, branded experiences, and projects that create long-term value. We believe this segment will continue to lead the market over the next three to five years as these trends continue to strengthen.
However, for the residential market to remain balanced, the affordable and mid-income segments need greater policy support and innovative solutions to improve supply and make homeownership more accessible. Currently, there is no additional policy support for these segments. Coupled with high land prices in urban centres and rising construction costs, developers are finding it difficult to launch new projects in the affordable housing segment, as reflected in the decline in sales and new launches of homes priced below INR 1 crore.
Sheeshram Yadav, Founder and Managing Director of Yugen Infra shared,
Some of the leading factors behind the surge in India's luxury housing market may come down to expeditious wealth creation and increasing demand from consumers for larger,lifestyle-focused homes. Today’s buyers, especially affluent millennials, don’t just want square footage. They want more. They are looking for gated communities that are supported by advanced technology. They want these communities to offer built-in security and wellness amenities. While this premium segment will certainly command the market’s momentum over the next three to five years, the industry cannot rely on luxury alone forever. Right now, rising interest rates have slowed down affordable housing, creating a misbalance in the market. We need a steady recovery in the mid-income and affordable segments to keep the real estate market healthy in the long-run. The real goal for developers going forward is to capture the high margins of luxury while finding ways to meet the massive, foundational demand of everyday Indian homebuyers.
Arudradev Rao Founder, Vera Vita Shared,
India’s premium housing surge is clear: homes priced above ₹1 crore accounted for nearly 78% of primary residential sales value in 2025. Buyers increasingly value not only square footage, but quality of life. Higher incomes, household wealth, smaller families, longer lifespans and global exposure are lifting expectations around design, privacy, green space, community and service. We expect this value-led preference to remain influential over the next three to five years. Yet premium housing alone cannot sustain the industry. India’s deepest need remains in affordable and mid-income homes, where land, construction and financing costs constrain supply. The opportunity is to carry premium housing’s best lessons, including thoughtful planning, durable quality, accessibility and better everyday experience, across price points. The next growth cycle should be measured not only by higher ticket sizes, but by better homes at every level. Premium Housing may lead today; inclusive, well-planned supply will determine long-term strength.
Rohan Sheth, Founder of Volney shared.
Premium housing isn't developing in isolation it reflects a broader shift across Indian real estate toward experience-led, future-ready spaces. Just as buyers now pay a premium for larger homes and lifestyle amenities, commercial developers are adapting too: adding EV charging stations, dedicated delivery and freight zones for Zomato, Swiggy and e-commerce orders, cafeterias, breakout areas and crèches for a diverse workforce. Sustainability features like wastewater recycling, energy-efficient cooling and double-glazed walls are becoming baseline expectations, not add-ons. This convergence shows India's real estate sector residential and commercial alike is maturing from volume-driven delivery to value-driven, amenity-rich, sustainable growth built for the long term.
Dr Vivek Garg, Founding Director, NVT Quality Lifestyle & Board member, CREDAI, Bengaluru Said,
The strong momentum in premium housing reflects a structural shift rather than a short-term cycle. Rising incomes, entrepreneurial wealth creation, global exposure and changing lifestyle aspirations have encouraged homebuyers to prioritise quality, space, wellness and long-term value over just ownership. The pandemic further accelerated this preference, with homes becoming an extension of how people live, work and spend time with family. We believe this demand will remain resilient over the next three to five years, particularly in wellconnected micro-markets supported by infrastructure growth. That said, premium housing cannot be viewed in isolation. A healthy residential market requires balanced growth across all segments. Affordable and mid-income housing continue to address India's largest housing need and will require sustained policy support, faster approvals and innovative financing to ensure home ownership remains accessible even as the premium segment drives value growth for the industry.
