Indian home buyers continue to prefer larger flat sizes, a trend observed during the COVID-19 pandemic when individuals started working from home and sought out bigger spaces, says property consultant Anarock.
“Before covid-19, apartment sizes were shrinking annually to meet the demand for compact homes prevalent then,” Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri said. “The central concerns were affordability and millennials’ preference for low-maintenance homes. 2020 saw an abrupt reversal of buyer preferences.”
The data reveals that the average flat sizes in the top seven cities have increased 7% over the past five years, from approximately 1,150 sq. ft. in 2018 to around 1,225 sq. ft. in Q1 2023. In 2022, the average flat size in these cities stood at 1,185 sq. ft., and in 2021 it was 1,170 sq. ft.
However, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) stands out as the only city where average flat sizes have decreased over the past five years, Puri states declining from 932 sq ft in 2018 to 743 sq ft in Q1 2023.
He said only 2020 had an annual increase in average flat sizes in MMR over 2019 of 21% during the five years. Since then, the size of homes in the area has decreased.
The average flat size increased the most among the top seven cities in the National Capital Region (NCR), rising from approximately 1,250 sq ft in 2018 to around 1,700 sq ft in Q1 2023. In response to the demand, developers in NCR are launching larger homes after closely monitoring it.
According to the data, Hyderabad boasts the highest average flat size at around 2,200 sq. ft. in Q1 2023, followed by NCR with approximately 1,700 sq. ft. Chennai and Bengaluru have average flat sizes of around 1,175 sq. ft. and 1,300 sq. ft., respectively. Kolkata’s average flat size is around 1,150 sq. ft., while Pune’s is approximately 1,013 sq. ft.
Though property prices are on the rise, people still want bigger houses. Except for MMR, where average home sizes decreased by around 20% over the same period, the top 7 cities saw an average rise in flat sizes of about 7% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2018.
When comparing annual trends at the city level, Q1 2023 saw an increase of 5% compared to Q1 2022, with NCR leading the growth with a 50% increase and Kolkata coming in second with a 44% increase. Hyderabad saw a 29% increase, Pune saw a 16% increase, Bengaluru registered an 8% surge, while Chennai and MMR saw decreases of 6% and 5%, respectively.
