Mumbai leads flat Jan-Sep 2026 housing sales as NCR falls 11%

What the report found

Knight Frank India's residential market data for January to September 2026 shows that sales across eight major cities were broadly unchanged from the same period in 2025, at 2,58,238 units. The figure is the one behind the rounded '2.6 lakh' headline; the exact number is 2,58,238.

Developers launched 2,79,899 units in the same nine months, up 4%. New supply has now exceeded sales for 16 consecutive quarters, according to the same report.

Knight Frank described the pattern as a market that has levelled off after several years of strong growth. Shishir Baijal, the firm's chairman and managing director, said combined sales in the seven markets outside NCR rose 2% year on year.

Mumbai: largest market, modest growth

Mumbai recorded 72,804 sales between January and September, up 1% from a year earlier. That is the highest January-September volume for the city since 2018, the report says. Developers launched 72,673 units in Mumbai over the same period, up 13%.

Bengaluru came next with 43,140 units, up 5%, followed by Pune with 36,402 units, broadly unchanged. Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Kolkata grew between roughly 2% and 4%, according to the same data.

NCR: the only major market in decline

NCR sales fell 11% to 35,574 units. Gurugram accounted for most of the drop. Excluding Gurugram, sales in the rest of NCR rose 3% in the period.

The weakness was concentrated in homes priced between Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore, where sales fell 39% to 4,033 units. Sales in the Rs 1-2 crore band were described as the most stable part of the NCR market. In the July-September quarter alone, NCR sales were 10,712 units, the lowest quarterly figure since 2021.

Gurugram holds 57% of NCR's unsold homes, according to the report.

Shift toward higher-priced homes

Homes priced above Rs 1 crore made up 55% of total sales in the nine months, compared with 50% a year earlier. The share of homes below Rs 50 lakh fell to 18% from 22%.

In NCR, launches below Rs 2 crore have fallen by about two-thirds since 2023, while launches above Rs 2 crore have risen 54%. The report describes a gap between the homes being built and what a large part of buyers are looking for, especially in the sub-Rs 1 crore band, where launches fell faster than sales.

What it means for buyers and investors

For buyers in the lower price bands, the data points to fewer new launches and a thinner choice of homes, particularly in NCR. For buyers in Gurugram's higher-priced segments, the report indicates more unsold stock and slower sales, which may give buyers more room to negotiate. The report does not quote specific discounts, so any negotiating benefit is not documented here.

For investors, the report shows prices rising across markets, with increases of between 3% and 17% by market. Inventory clearance time rose marginally to 6.1 quarters. Knight Frank's chairman said the trend reflects normalisation rather than a broad slowdown.

What comes next

The report covers data up to the end of September 2026. The sources reviewed do not set out a forecast for the rest of the year, so the outlook for NCR sales and Gurugram inventory beyond September is not yet known. Readers should treat these figures as consultant estimates for eight cities, not official government statistics.