Towering EMI Burden Mounts to 60% of Incomes in Metros

Affordability goes for a toss amid growing gap between income and property price growth rates
NEW DELHI, Sep 5 (The CONNECT) – The Indian real estate market is currently experiencing a bull run, marked by soaring prices and escalating demand. At the same time, household incomes across the top 10 cities increased at a CAGR of 5.4%, while property prices surged at a CAGR of 9.3% (between 2020-2024). This growing gap in income and property price growth rates has weakened affordability.
Magicbricks’ flagship report Housing Affordability in Major Indian Cities shows that the property price to Annual Household Income Ratio (P/I Ratio) in India has increased from 6.6 in 2020 to 7.5 in 2024 (higher than the globally accepted benchmarks of 5).
Based on the P/I Ratio, the report observed that Chennai (5), Ahmedabad (5), and Kolkata (5) are among the most affordable cities for residential investments in 2024, while the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (14.3) and Delhi (10.1) emerged as the least affordable.
Sudhir Pai, CEO, Magicbricks said, between the latter half of 2021 and 2022, residential investments were at their most affordable. During this period, the market was experiencing a resurgence, characterized by low interest rates, recovering household incomes, and modest increase in residential prices.
However, homeownership sentiment has since peaked, resulting in demand significantly outpacing available supply, leading to a rapid and substantial surge in residential prices, presenting new challenges for affordable housing, Pai said.
Furthermore, the report revealed that the EMI-to-monthly income ratio in India has risen from 46% in 2020 to 61% in 2024, indicating a growing burden of EMIs on home buyers and reflecting affordability concerns nationwide, especially metros.
The trend is more pronounced in MMR (116%), New Delhi (82%), Gurugram (61%) and Hyderabad (61%). In contrast, cities like Ahmedabad (41%), Chennai (41%) and Kolkata (47%) are relatively more affordable.
The report concluded that the current situation is likely to hit equilibrium conditions with market trends indicating a deceleration in price growth due to an anticipated increase in residential supply.
As the largest platform for buyers and sellers of property Magicbricks has monthly traffic exceeding 2 crores and an active base of over 15 lakh property listings. Magicbricks has metamorphosed into a full stack service provider for all real estate needs, with services including home loans, interiors, and expert advice.