Hyderabad: The residential real estate market in Hyderabad continues to be the second most expensive in India after Mumbai.
According to the Affordability Index by Knight Frank India, a property consultancy, the EMI-to-income ratio in Hyderabad is 30 percent.
Residential real estate market in Hyderabad sees no change in affordability
Although Hyderabad remains the second most expensive market in the country, affordability has not changed since 2022, as the EMI-to-income ratio has remained constant for the past two years.
From 2010 to 2021, affordability, i.e., the EMI-to-income ratio, improved and then increased slightly in 2022. Since then, it has remained the same in Hyderabad.
Following are the EMI-to-income ratios of various cities in India.
| City | 2010 (percent) | 2019 (percent) | 2020 (percent) | 2021 (percent) | 2022 (percent) | 2023 (percent) | H1 2024 (percent) |
| Mumbai | 93 | 67 | 61 | 52 | 53 | 51 | 51 |
| Hyderabad | 47 | 34 | 31 | 28 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| NCR | 53 | 34 | 38 | 28 | 29 | 27 | 28 |
| Bengaluru | 48 | 32 | 28 | 26 | 27 | 26 | 26 |
| Chennai | 51 | 30 | 26 | 24 | 27 | 25 | 25 |
| Pune | 39 | 29 | 26 | 24 | 25 | 24 | 24 |
| Kolkata | 45 | 32 | 30 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 24 |
| Ahmedabad | 46 | 25 | 24 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 21 |
On the affordability index, Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India said “Stable affordability is essential to sustaining homebuyer demand and sales momentum, which, in turn, acts as a key economic driver for the country. As income levels rise and economic growth strengthens, end-users’ financial confidence is significantly bolstered, encouraging them to make longer-term financial commitments toward asset creation. Given the RBI’s healthy 7.2% GDP growth estimate for FY 2025 and a stable interest rate scenario, income and affordability levels are expected to continue to support homebuyer demand in 2024.”
Top choice for NRIs
Despite being the second-most expensive real estate market in India, Hyderabad’s real estate market has emerged as one of the top choices for NRIs.
A significant percentage of NRIs residing in the US, Canada, the Gulf, Europe, etc., prefer housing units in Hyderabad.
Even though stocks and mutual funds offer better returns compared to investments in the real estate market, NRIs are inclined to purchase homes in top cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Delhi-NCR.
One reason behind this is their experience during COVID-19. Many of them, especially those working in Gulf countries, lost their jobs during the pandemic, compelling them to return to India.
