Mumbai's luxury realty loses sparkle as buyers slip into pause mode

Global uncertainties and volatile equity markets have started impacting Mumbai's luxury and ultra-luxury realty housing.

- PRACHI PISAL

The financial capital of India, in contrast to the other big realty market of Delhi-NCR, shows a much higher inventory pileup in luxury housing. The supply is clearly exceeding the demand at a time when buyers are in a wait-and-watch mode in the Maximum City.

Mumbai—home to industry titans and Bollywood stars—is witnessing a slow offtake of houses priced between ₹10 crore and ₹50 crore. Industry insiders and real estate watchers explained the phenomenon.

"Large real estate purchases typically slow down against such a backdrop, which could present as an inventory buildup in the luxury segment," said Vinod Goenka, chairman and managing director (MD) at Valor Estate, a Mumbai-based real estate firm.

Chirag Mehta, founder at Arbour Investments, said that buyers' purchase decisions were more discretionary and often influenced by broader financial and economic signals.

"Over the last six months, we've seen heightened volatility in the equity markets, both domestically and globally. In such environments, investors across asset classes tend to become more risk-averse," he added.

In the past six months, the BSE Sensex has dropped 7.87 per cent, while the Nifty 50 has declined 8.77 per cent. Nifty Vix (India volatility index) has surged by about 52.10 per cent during the same period.