India's Housing Affordability Crisis to Ease as Incomes Outpace Prices

India's housing affordability is likely to stabilise between 2026 and 2028, offering some relief to homebuyers who have struggled with rising property prices and high loan costs in recent years, a report by CBRE South Asia Private Limited said.

The consultancy, in its India Residential Market Outlook 2026, noted that for the first time since 2021, household income growth is expected to grow faster than property prices.

This shift is likely to ease the burden of home loans for a wide range of buyers across major cities.

The report analysed the EMI-to-income ratio across six key cities, including Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune, covering three income groups between 2021 and 2028.

According to the findings, affordability had worsened steadily between 2021 and 2024, mainly due to higher interest rates and faster growth in property prices compared to incomes.

However, the trend is now expected to reverse. From 2026 onwards, the EMI-to-income ratio is likely to stabilise across income groups -- indicating that buying a home will become more manageable.

Industry experts said this marks an important turning point for India's housing market. The combination of easing interest rates, slower price growth and rising household incomes is expected to support demand going forward.

The report also suggests that India's progress towards becoming an upper-middle-income economy by 2030 will further strengthen housing demand.

The study also highlighted that the residential market remained strong in 2025, with both new launches and sales crossing 2.7 lakh units.

There has been a noticeable shift towards premium and luxury housing, with high-end homes accounting for around 27 per cent of total sales.

Sales in this segment grew over 30 per cent compared to the previous year, the report stated.

- IANS