New Delhi, April 27 -- Sales of affordable homes, costing less than Rs.50 lakh each, fell 23% on-year in January-March to 16,273 units across the top eight cities, mainly due to lower fresh supply in this price bracket, according to Knight Frank. Post-covid pandemic, the demand for luxury homes has surged. Builders are attributing the lower launches in the affordable housing segment to the high cost of inputs, especially land. In its latest report, real estate consultant Knight Frank India pointed out that affordable housing segment saw the steepest decline of 23% during the January-March period of this year, with all eight cities reporting a fall in sales. As per the data, even the Rs.50 lakh-1 crore category witnessed a decline of 12% year-on-year during the first quarter of the 2026 calendar year to 23,567 units across eight major cities. These cities are Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. However, the housing sales in the Rs.1-2 crore segment rose 10 per cent to 24,657 units during January-March. In the Rs.2-5 crore category, the housing sales rose 17% to 16,075 units. Sales in the Rs.5-10 crore price category dipped 3% to 3,338 units. Housing sales in Rs.10-20 crore category increased 12% to 738 units, while sales in Rs.20-50 crore category jumped 80% to 165 units. In homes costing more than Rs.50 crore, the sales declined 93% to 12 units during the January-March period. Overall, across all price categories, Knight Frank data showed that the housing sales fell 4% annually in January-March to 84,827 units across the eight cities due to soft demand because of high prices and uncertainties caused by the West Asia conflict. "Market activity remained skewed toward the higher end even as growth moderated, while volumes continue to slide in ticket sizes below Rs.10 million (1 crore)," Knight Frank said in its report. The share of these lower segments (below Rs.1 crore) has declined to 47% of the total sales, compared to 54% in January-March 2025. Shishir Baijal, International Partner, Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said the moderation in residential demand follows a sustained multi-year upcycle. "While this phase can be partly attributed to a natural consolidation after strong growth, the continued rise in prices alongside softening volumes indicates growing pressure on affordability and absorption," he said....