India’s luxury residential market has moved decisively from being an aspirational add-on to a core growth segment. For developers and investors, it is visible in transaction data, pricing resilience, and buyer behaviour across major urban markets. What is changing most materially is not only the size of the market, but the basis on which premium value is being assessed.
Knight Frank and ANAROCK peg India’s luxury residential segment at USD 40-45 billion today, with a credible path to doubling by 2030. Importantly, premium housing has also increased its share of overall residential demand. Notably, homes above ₹1 crore now account for over 60 percent of transaction value in major cities, up from just over 50 percent a few years back. This upward migration of demand rather than cyclical volatility in pricing.
This expansion is being led by a change in buyer profile, which is now structurally stronger. India's HNI and UHNI base continues to grow, fed by entrepreneurship, capital markets, and global mobility. According to surveys from Knight Frank and CBRE, these buyers now treat luxury residential real estate as an asset class, not flexible consumption. They expect returns, efficiency, and durability. That changes what you build and how you price it.
One of the most significant shifts within this segment is the redefinition of sustainability from a soft value to a commercial one. India apparently now has over 10 billion square feet of green-certified space, per the Indian Green Building Council. In premium residential, that translates directly to lower operating costs, regulatory compliance, and asset longevity. Buyers care about energy efficiency, water management, and climate-responsive design, particularly for primary residences rather than second homes. From an investment standpoint, these features reduce long-term risk exposure and improve lifecycle economics.
Design expectations have shifted in step with the market. Decorative luxury has given way to performance-driven planning. Buyers are far more critical of layouts, adaptability, natural light, airflow, and acoustic comfort. Developments that get these basics right see faster absorption and longer relevance, particularly in mature locations. This also reduces redesign costs and post-handover changes, helping pricing hold across market cycles. Design today is less about appearance and more about long-term value control.
Wellness has become the third structural factor that affects the demand for high-end homes. After the pandemic, homes should be able to support not just living, but also working, recovering, and staying healthy for a long time. Surveys of the industry show that buyers are increasingly interested in features like better air and water quality, materials that are less toxic, noise control, and access to open spaces. These expectations are especially strong among luxury end-users, who are increasingly seeing wellness-led homes as a way to protect themselves from health costs and burnout that come with their lifestyle. For developers, adding wellness features early on in the planning process is turning out to be cheaper than adding them later on.
This goes beyond just one unit at the project level. Premium buyers are looking at how easy it is to walk around, how good the landscaping is, how well the common areas are used, and how well the buildings are managed. Developments that include wellness and sustainability in their master plans have stronger brand equity and pricing power.
The ultra-luxury segment further reinforces this shift. Over the last few years, India’s top cities have witnessed a steady rise in residential transactions above ₹100 crore, as tracked by ANAROCK and media disclosures. Even though these volumes are limited, they set the bar for design, sustainability, and the kind of living experience buyers now expect. From an investment lens, they reflect growing depth, confidence, and maturity at the very top of the market.
The foremost idea behind these trends is a change in notion of luxury that is more about seeking extravagant lifestyle to functionality. Buyers are less concerned with how much extra space a home has and more with how well it works over time. In the high-end market, smart systems, good building management, flexibility, and service integration are now factors that affect buying decisions.
What’s playing out in India’s luxury housing market is a clear tightening of priorities for developers and investors. Luxury in India is now becoming more disciplined, more data-led, and more accountable. Projects that succeed will allocate capital intelligently toward sustainability, design efficiency, and wellness rather than superficial upgrades. This is not a momentary trend. The numbers point to a structural realignment of value creation in residential real estate.
In that sense, the new luxury is not about building more expensive homes. It's about building assets that remain relevant, resilient, and desirable in a market that is becoming more sophisticated.
