Kolkata: The residential real estate market is in the grip of the bigger uncertainty that has caught the entire financial market in the country. How is the real estate market reacting to it? Ankita Luharuka, CEO of Alliance City Developers tells News9 that the market is now driven by end-users and not by investors and that’s a bright spot. “In places like Mumbai, the residential real estate market has changed dramatically over the past few years, going from being driven by investors to being driven by end-user demand. Industry estimates show that between 65 and 70% of modern housing demand comes from end-users. This is a big change from the past, when investors made up a much larger part of the demand. This change has been very important in making the market more stable generally,” she said.
Buying apartments with a long term view
Since the pandemic, the trend has grown even stronger, and for many families, owning their own house is now their main goal. People today buy things with a long-term view, thinking about things like their living needs, their financial security, and how useful the item is, rather than how much it will cost in the short term. This has resulted in more informed and disciplined decision-making across the market, she said.
New data points to stable market
“New data also shows that this resistance is still there. Between 2023 and 2025, residential sales across the top seven Indian cities have remained strong with annual housing sales consistently crossing 4–4.5 lakh units even amid rising property prices and global uncertainties. A large proportion of this demand has come from genuine homebuyers, reinforcing the strength of underlying end-user demand,” said Luharuka. She thinks this shift has become increasingly important in times of global volatility. “When things weren’t going well in the past more buyers often made market swings worse. Today however, demand is mostly based on need. This makes the sector more stable and less likely to see big drops,” she added.
Balanced and stable
She thinks key micro-markets are witnessing higher demand because of things like ongoing infrastructure development, better connectivity and rising lifestyle ambitions. There have been some price increases, but people still want to buy, especially serious and long-term buyers. As a result, the real estate sector today is witnessing more balanced and stable cycles. “While short-term sentiment may fluctuate due to external factors, strong end-user demand continues to act as a key stabilising force, providing a solid foundation for sustained and long-term growth in the sector,” she said.