Luxury home sales surge nearly 50% in first half of 2023

In terms of volumes, luxury housing sales in Mumbai were 533 units during H1 (first half) 2023 as compared to 419 units in H1 2022. According to the data, 388 units were sold in Mumbai’s primary market for ₹8,817 crore during H1 2023 as against 267 units worth ₹4,816 crore in H1 2022

Mumbai: The city witnessed an unparalleled demand for luxury homes priced above ₹10 crore with record sales touching ₹11,400 crore in primary (fresh sales) and secondary (re-sale) value between January and June of 2023.

Mumbai, India - March 22, 2020: Deserted view of Elphinstone bridge during Janata Curfew in Mumbai, India, on Sunday, March 22, 2020. (Photo by Pratik Chorge/Hindustan Times) (Pratik Chorge/HT Photo)

The primary sales clocked a nearly 50% rise from ₹4,524 crore in the first half of 2022 to ₹8,817 crore in the corresponding period this year. Worli remained the luxury hotspot among buyers, according to a new report on Mumbai luxury housing released on Monday by India Sotheby’s International Realty and CRE Matrix, a real estate data analytics firm.

In terms of volumes, luxury housing sales in Mumbai were 533 units during H1 (first half) 2023 as compared to 419 units in H1 2022. According to the data, 388 units were sold in Mumbai’s primary market for ₹8,817 crore during H1 2023 as against 267 units worth ₹4,816 crore in H1 2022.

In the city’s secondary market, 145 units were sold for ₹2,583 crore during H1 of 2023 as compared to 152 units valued at ₹2,844 crore in the 2021 calendar year, the report said.

Led by Worli, the top localities where luxury homes priced above ₹10 crore were sold include Malabar Hill, Mumbai Central, Lower Parel, Prabhadevi, Bandra West, Tardeo, Mahalakshmi, Andheri West, and Juhu-Santacruz West, indicating that luxury home sales were not restricted to South and Central Mumbai, but also western suburbs. These 10 localities contributed 86% of primary luxury sales by value in H1 2023, the report said.

Out of the ₹8,817 crore primary sales in 2023 first half, just four projects – Three Sixty West in Worli, Lodha Malabar Hill in Malabar Hill, Raheja Modern Vivarea at Mahalaxmi, and Oberoi Sky City on Borivali – had contributed sales of ₹4,079 crore in February and March 2023 following the removal of capital gain tax benefit from April 1 in the union budget announced on February 1, 2023. The announcement spurred huge luxury sales with the high-net-worth individuals investing in luxury homes before the new norm came into place. It is during this period that eye-popping transactions took place including DMart promoter Radhakishan Damani’s family and associates buying 28 apartments in Oberoi Three Sixty West for ₹1,238 crore, industrialist JP Taparia, Bajaj Auto chairman Niraj Bajaj, Welspun group chairman BK Goenka buying homes worth ₹369 crore, ₹252.50 crore, and ₹230 crore respectively.

Another key finding of the report is that the size of luxury apartments has been expanding exponentially in the last five years. In the first half of 2018, only 18 luxury homes ranging between 1,000-2000 sq ft were sold compared to 63 in 2023. Buyers preferring apartments in the 2000-4000 sq ft range shot up from 101 units sold in 2018 to 240 sold in 2023. About 15 units of apartments in 4,000-8,000 sq ft size were sold in 2018, but 73 apartments of that size were sold in 2023. Only four apartments above 8,000 sq ft had been sold in 2018, but 12 such lavish apartments were sold in 2023. 62% of the primary sales in the first half of 2023 were homes in the 2000-4000 sq ft range.

Another key finding of the report is that the ultra-luxury segment of homes priced between ₹40-70 crore also witnessed a 64% increase over an 18-month period with 64 units sold from January 2022 to June 2023. In the previous 18 months from January 2020 to June 2021, the ultra-luxury segment sold 39 units. The report showed 439 units in ₹10-20 crore bracket were sold in calendar year 2021, compared to 379 in CY 2022, but 273 were sold in the first six months of 2023. Similarly, 122 apartments in ₹20-40 crore ticket size were sold in the calendar year 2021, and 85 in CY 2022, but 67 were sold in the first half of 2023. The share of homes in the price range of ₹40-70 crore zoomed from 20 units in 12 months of 2021 to 25 units in 12 months of 2022, and 39 units in six months of 2023. Similarly, luxury home sales of above ₹70 crore which were 1 or 2 units in pre-Covid period have got into double figures post-Covid – 11 in Cy 2021, 10 in CY 2022, and 9 in six months of 2023.

“This signifies that real estate has made a meaningful comeback into the Ultra High Networth Individual portfolios. With wealth creation in India growing at a fast pace, and the country’s wealthiest city Mumbai set to enter the list of top 20 cities with the most number of millionaires by 2023, we believe there’s an inherent strength in Mumbai’s luxury housing market which should continue in the future,” said Amit Goyal, Managing Director, India Sotheby’s International Realty.

Abhishek Kiran Gupta, CEO and Founder CRE Matrix and Index Tap shared his insights, “Mumbai had been witnessing luxury housing sales of an average of around ₹5,300 crore every half year since 2018. In H1 2023, luxury housing sales more than doubled to ₹11,400 crore, surpassing even the annual sales of 2018–2020. Indians are getting richer, and they are not shying from flaunting their wealth. The Richie Rich are now eyeing larger homes than ever before with a clear preference for ocean views, higher floors and amenities galore.”