Mr. Chandresh Vithalani- Director at Palladian Partners Pvt Ltd
If 2024 was about recovery and confidence, calendar year 2025 was about momentum-and the market's growing preference for "quality over quantity." Across India, homebuyers remained active, but the defining shift was premiumisation: better locations, better developers, better amenities, and greater willingness to upgrade. In parallel, commercial real estate surprised on the upside, with office demand hitting record territory, reinforcing India's long-term "jobs and consumption" flywheel.
Residential: Volumes steady, value growth stronger
A useful snapshot of 2025's direction comes from Q3 data, which captured the year's mid-course reality: across the top 7 cities, housing sales were about 97,100 units in Q3, while the average price level rose ~9% YoY, indicating resilient end-user demand even as affordability remained a conversation.
The other big tailwind through 2025 was the interest-rate cycle turning decisively supportive. The RBI delivered multiple cuts through the year-including the June move that took the repo to 5.50% and a December cut to 5.25%-lowering EMI pressure and improving purchase eligibility for salaried buyers. R
MMR: Strong absorption, consistent launches, and a confidence signal via registrations
In the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, 2025 reinforced a familiar truth: the market rewards connectivity, supply discipline, and proven micro-markets. In Q3 alone, MMR recorded approximately 30,300 units sold, alongside ~29,600 new launches, with unsold inventory ~176,300 units and an average price level around â¹17,230 per sq ft-a balance that suggests the market remained liquid rather than speculative.
The clearest "on-ground" confidence indicator was registrations. November 2025 saw 12,219 property registrations in Mumbai, up 20% YoY, with ~80% of registrations attributed to residential properties, per a Knight Frank-based analysis reported by Hindustan Times.
A longer-window indicator tells the same story: 99,869 registrations in the first eight months of 2025 and over â¹8,854 crore contributed to the state exchequer during that period (reporting also referencing Knight Frank).
Policy and process upgrades also mattered: from 17 Feb 2025, citizens in Mumbai City and Suburban districts were enabled to register documents at any Sub-Registrar office across these districts-an operational improvement that reduces friction and improves throughput in high-volume months.
The MMR growth map: "transit-first" winners widen further
MMR's 2025 demand remained decisively transit-led, and the impact broadened beyond any single node. In the Western corridor, Metro Lines 2A (Dahisar West-Andheri West) and 7 (Dahisar East-Gundavali) saw accelerating adoption; in August 2025, the two lines together recorded a single-day ridership peak of 3.3 lakh, signalling that Metro-led commuting is becoming habitual across micro-markets like Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Goregaon and Andheri.
On the Mumbai-Navi Mumbai-Panvel axis, the Atal Setu (MTHL) crossed its first operational year with average daily traffic of 22,689 vehicles and 83 lakh+ vehicles in the first year-supporting accessibility re-rating for the airport influence zone and adjoining nodes. With the Navi Mumbai International Airport inaugurated in October 2025 and commercial operations planned from late December 2025, the corridor's growth narrative is increasingly tied to executable timelines rather than long-dated promises.
Commercial real estate: offices lead, Mumbai stays central
If residential was steady, offices were the year's headline. CBRE reported 59.6 million sq ft of office leasing in the first nine months of 2025, the highest ever for that period, with gateway cities including Mumbai accounting for a large share.
JLL, too, flagged a strong first half, reporting 39.45 million sq ft of office leasing in H1 2025 and projecting the market could exceed 80 million sq ft by year-end.
Within Mumbai, "flight to quality" translated into rent firmness: Cushman & Wakefield's Mumbai Office MarketBeat noted stock-weighted average rents at ~â¹165.5 per sq ft in Q3 2025, up 1.6% QoQ, supported by demand in key districts such as BKC and Worli.
What 2025 sets up for 2026
Heading into 2026, the base case is constructive: lower interest rates, continued infrastructure commissioning, and strong white-collar employment engines (including GCC expansion) should keep both residential and Grade A office demand healthy. The key question is not demand, but mix: mid-segment and premium should remain robust, while ultra-luxury stays selective and driven by wealth cycles.
However, three variables will shape outcomes in 2026: (1) whether the rate-cut cycle pauses at current levels-Reuters polling suggested expectations of the repo holding around 5.25% through 2026; (2) how quickly new supply is absorbed in micro-markets seeing aggressive launches; and (3) global volatility (trade, energy, and currency) that can influence input costs and buyer sentiment.
For MMR specifically, 2026 is likely to reward the same fundamentals that defined 2025: credible execution, transit adjacency, and projects that deliver "livability upgrades" rather than just square footage. The market has made its preference clear-and it is increasingly paying a premium for certainty.
Article by: Mr. Chandresh Vithalani, Director at Palladian Partners Pvt. Ltd.
