Property prices increased in all the 15 Indian cities monitored by Knight Frank India during the first half of 2026, even as housing sales stayed flat. Faridabad and Delhi reported the biggest annual hike in prices at 18% each while Ghaziabad witnessed 15% hike in prices.
The price increase comes against a more moderate sales environment. Across eight major residential markets tracked by Knight Frank, housing sales rose just 1% year-on-year to 1,71,471 units in H1 2026, while new launches went up 4% to 1,87,350 units.
The gap between the increases in price and sales points to a market driven by premiumisation, changing inventory and performance in selective locations, rather than an across the board rise in transactions.
NCR cities record strongest price growth
The National Capital Region recorded some of the strongest residential price growth among the markets covered.Faridabad and Delhi recorded the highest residential price growth at 18% annually, followed by Ghaziabad at 15% and Noida at 8%. Gurugram and Greater Noida also recorded 6% growth each.
Other major markets too witnessed price hikes. Among the other major markets, Bengaluru recorded the highest price growth at 9%, followed by Hyderabad at 7%. Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata grew by around 5% each while Thane rose by 4%. Ahmedabad and Navi Mumbai recorded 3% increase.
Faridabad has been witnessing improvement in terms of connectivity and infrastructure apart from residential demand. The city's growing integration with the wider NCR market has strengthened its appeal as developers and homebuyers look beyond established locations.
Premium homes gain a larger share of sales
The continued increase in prices despite limited sales growth is partly linked to the changing composition of housing demand. Homes priced above Rs. 1 crore accounted for 54% of residential sales in H1 2026, compared with 49% during the same period last year.
This shift towards higher-value homes means that the value of transactions can continue to increase even when the number of homes sold is growing only marginally. Developers are also continuing to launch projects, with new supply increasing faster than sales across the major markets.
The trend suggests that the housing market is not experiencing a uniform increase in demand across all price segments. A similar trend was visible in the second quarter, with
premium housing demand continuing to support residential prices even as sales moderated. Instead, buyers with greater purchasing power continue to support the premium segment, while other parts of the market remain more selective.
Affordable housing supply remains under pressure
The shift towards higher-ticket homes is also changing the composition of available inventory. Knight Frank's H1 2026 assessment points to a continuing decline in the share of lower-priced housing, while sustained price appreciation has pushed some homes into higher price brackets.
This is particularly relevant in premium NCR markets, where relatively affordable inventory has been absorbed and replacement supply is increasingly positioned at higher price points.
Developers are therefore maintaining headline prices even as they use incentives such as flexible payment plans, stamp-duty waivers and subvention schemes to support sales. This allows them to manage buyer affordability without necessarily reducing quoted property prices.
As a result, rising prices should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of uniformly strong demand across the market.
Housing market enters a more selective phase
The combination of rising prices, moderate sales growth and increasing launches suggests that India's residential market is entering a more selective phase.
Across Knight Frank's eight tracked markets, there were 5.26 lakh units of unsold inventory in H1 2026. As launches continue to surpass sales, developers will have to consider the pace at which new schemes can be brought on stream as buyers become more discerning about pricing, location and quality.
The continued strength of premium housing provides some support for prices, but the performance of new launches will be important in determining whether current price levels can be sustained.
For markets such as Faridabad, Delhi and Ghaziabad, strong price growth highlights the growing importance of NCR's emerging residential corridors. Across India, however, the H1 2026 data suggests that rising property prices are being driven by a combination of premiumisation, changing inventory and location-specific demand rather than a broad surge in housing sales.
Sources: Business Today
