Home Sales Fell 6% in Q2 2026 While Builders Launched More: Anarock

Anarock's Q2 2026 report, out on 5 July 2026, says housing sales across India's top seven cities dropped 6% from a year ago, even as new launches rose 7%. Supply is building against softer demand. For an NRI weighing a purchase, that is a buyer's quarter, not a seller's.

Last week we covered Knight Frank's read of the first half of 2026. This is a different cut: Anarock measured the April-to-June quarter across seven cities and found the quarter cooled. Two data houses, two windows, one signal worth reading plainly.

What the numbers say

Anarock puts Q2 2026 sales at about 90,715 units across the top seven cities, down from 96,285 a year earlier. That is a 6% year-on-year fall, and an 11% drop from the previous quarter. New launches ran the other way, near 106,000 units, up 7% on the year.

Prices did not fall. Average residential prices across the seven cities rose about 7% year-on-year, and a marginal 1% over the quarter. NCR led the price gains at 13%, with Bengaluru next at 8%. So the pattern is fewer sales, more launches, and prices still grinding up. That is inventory building, not a correction.

Anarock chairman Anuj Puri tied the slowdown to the West Asia conflict and its knock-on effects on supply chains, and to uncertainty in the IT and ITeS sector from AI-related disruption. Both hit the exact buyer pool that fuels Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, and Gurgaon.

The six cities you care about

Anarock's per-city sales for the quarter, year-on-year:

Read that carefully. Bangalore and Hyderabad still sold more year-on-year, but both saw launches surge far ahead of sales, which is how a quarter-to-sell number stretches out. Mumbai and Pune sold less. Chennai and NCR pulled back on new supply.

What it means for an NRI buyer

A cooling quarter with rising launches is negotiating room. When sales soften and unsold stock climbs, builders hold price on the sticker but move on freebies, payment plans, and closing terms. That is where an NRI, buying from abroad and not standing in the sales office, tends to leave money on the table.

None of this changes the parts that actually protect you: clean title, a builder that has delivered before, a RERA registration you have checked, and someone to run the flat after handover. We walk through the buy-side end to end in buying property in India as an NRI, and the returning-owner version in the moving-back-to-India checklist. If you are also weighing a sale in the same market, the tax side is in capital gains tax on NRI property.

This is a report on one quarter's data, not a market call. One agency's seven-city cut is a snapshot, and it disagrees at the edges with other houses measuring other windows. Use it as a bargaining input, not a forecast.

FAQ

How much did home sales fall in Q2 2026? Anarock reports a 6% year-on-year drop across India's top seven cities, to about 90,715 units, and an 11% fall from the previous quarter.

Did property prices drop in Q2 2026? No. Average prices across the seven cities rose about 7% year-on-year, with NCR up 13% and Bengaluru up 8%. Sales fell while prices held and rose, which points to building inventory rather than a price correction.

Is this a good time for an NRI to buy? It is a quarter with more negotiating room. Softer sales and rising launches push builders to improve terms rather than cut headline price. The fundamentals to check, title, RERA, and delivery track record, do not change with the cycle.

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