New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS): While sales of affordable housing have recorded a dip during the first half of the year, Indian luxury housing has performed remarkably well post the pandemic, with overall sales rising steeply across the top seven cities.

Latest ANAROCK Research data finds that of nearly 1.84 lakh units sold in these cities in H1 2022, about 14 per cent (approx. 25,700 units) were in luxury homes. Contrastingly, of 2.61 lakh units sold in the whole of 2019, just 7 per cent (approx. 17,740 units) were in the luxury category.

Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR) and NCR have led luxury homes sales with H1 2022 seeing nearly 17,830 units sold in these two cities alone. In 2019, they accounted for a mere 11,890 luxury homes sold in the entire year.

In terms of overall sales share, MMR's luxury housing sales share increased from 13 per cent in 2019 to 25 per cent in H1 2022. In NCR, the sales share rose to 12 per cent in H1 2022, from 4 per cent in 2019.

Reacting on the trend, Anuj Puri, Chairman -- ANAROCK, said, "These sales figures are even more remarkable if we consider that it is mainly end-users who are driving luxury housing sales across these cities today. There is a clear takeaway on overall economic performance. Even though the typical buyers in this budget segment were not as impacted by the pandemic as the rest, HNIs are conscious of cost. Discounts by developers made luxury properties very attractive for these buyers and NRIs have also been snapping up luxury homes in India because of the favourable exchange rate."

Encouraged by this healthy demand for luxury offerings, developers have stepped up new supply in the luxury segment, launching over 28,000 units priced >INR 1.5 crore across the top seven cities in just the first half of 2022. Nearly 28,960 luxury homes were launched in the entire 2019.