Ahmedabad most affordable city in India; Pune, Kolkata follow: Knight Frank

Mumbai is the least affordable city followed by Hyderabad and the National Capital Region

Ahmedabad is the most affordable city in India according to the Affordability Index released by real estate consultancy Knight Frank on Wednesday. The findings were based on a ratio of the equated monthly instalments and the income for an average household.

In the first six months of 2023, the ratio of Ahmedabad was the lowest among the top eight cities in India at 23 per cent. It was followed by Pune and Kolkata with a ratio of 26 per cent. It shows the proportion of their income that goes towards making EMI payments.

Notably, Mumbai is the least affordable city, with a ratio of 55 per cent. It is followed by Hyderabad (31 per cent) and National Capital Region (30 per cent).

Since May last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the benchmark repo rate by 250 basis points to address growing inflation.

According to Knight Frank, this has impacted affordability by an average of 2.5 per cent across cities and increased the EMI load by 14.4 per cent since then. However, demand has remained unimpaired and has sustained at the multi-year highs seen in the first half of 2023.

Shishir Baijal, chairman and managing director, Knight Frank India said, "The RBI's extremely capable handling of the inflationary scenario has inspired confidence in the country's economic environment. This is also reflected in the residential demand, which is at a multi-year high and office demand which has remained resilient even as office markets globally have been struggling."

While overall demand has remained consistently high, its underlying components have changed. The mid and premium segments in the price range of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore and above Rs 1 crore, respectively, have outperformed the overall market.

Conversely, sales in the under Rs 50 lakh ticket size category have trended down.

"Homebuyers in this segment have a much higher dependence on home loans and are therefore more sensitive to rate hikes than the mid and premium segment. This has been a significant factor in suppressing demand in this segment. Notably, sales in the mid-segment now comfortably exceed that of the affordable segment while those in the premium segment are catching up fast," Knight Frank said.

"While the market has remained strong thus far, further interest rate increases could pressure homebuyer ability and sentiments," Baijal added.