In the latest study by global real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), total new demand for urban housing in India is expected to be nearly 13 million units by the end of 2018 on account of the burgeoning population in urban centres. This is addition to the already existing unmet demand. Of the total additional demand, the top 8 cities[4] are likely to constitute 23% or 2.95 million units.

Of the total additional demand across the top eight cities, MIG is expected to generate the highest volume of demand of 1.08 million units until 2018, followed by the Lower Income Group (LIG)[5], which is expected to generate demand of nearly 1.05 million units, and the HIG with a demand for 0.52 million units. Thus, both LIG and MIG will account for nearly 80% of the total demand in these eight cities.

The expected supply of residential units including existing under construction and planned pipeline is estimated to be 1.31 million housing units which is expected to be delivered across the top eight cities by the end of 2018. The bulk of the under-construction units have already been sold. Delhi-NCR is likely to have the highest supply of around 516,000 units delivered in the next five years, followed by Bengaluru with around 243,000 units and Mumbai with 203,000 units.

Until 2018, the expected supply in the LIG will be approximately 21% of the total supply across top eight cities, whilst demand constitutes 58% share of the cumulative demand-supply gap. Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune are expected to witness the highest shortfall in LIG units. The MIG accounts for 59% of the total supply across top eight cities whilst it has a 23% share in cumulative demand-supply gap. Cities such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai are expected to lead the ranks of those with the shortfall of housing units catering to MIG. HIG accounts only for 19% of the total supply across top eight cities and has a 20% share in cumulative demand-supply gap. Bengaluru, Chennai and Delhi-NCR are the leaders in cities with the highest demand-supply gap for HIG units.

According to Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director, South Asia, Cushman & Wakefield, ''The private sector housing, which is largely responsible for creating housing in India, has been grappling many issues such as rising input costs, expensive land valuations, outdated building norms, restricted access to funding, serious delays in regulatory processes and uncertain economic conditions resulting in poor and/or slow sales volumes, all of which have resulted in holding back the growth of this sector since the last 2-3 years. Consequently, the demand-supply imbalances across cities have been becoming more pronounced.''