Mumbai’s residential market has immensely benefitted from the establishment and enforcement of Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA). The otherwise unorganized market with fragmentary issues like lack of uniformity, no authority, uncertainty of completion, fraudulence, no redressal committee etc. finally found a regulated direction with RERA overlooking operations.

The market witnessed a quick and strong recovery in sales and new launches post covid reaching historic high levels. The economy altogether halted in terms of operations and revenue generations; however, the pandemic changed the market sentiments towards having a home of your own. The need for space, amenities, an upgraded lifestyle became non-negotiable. The characteristics of the supply changed as well. The recent launches proposed smarter homes, family-friendly homes, the concept of adding 0.5 bedroom to accommodate hybrid or remote working and including a tray full of amenities and convenience elements to the project to make them appeal to homebuyers. The numbers in 2022 reached ahistoric high levels. The momentum continued in 2023 with activity levels reaching another milestone. Resultantly, Mumbai’s contribution to India’s residential market activity has increased and stands at

• ~25% of new launches and 22% of overall sales during 2022 to 2024.
• In terms of residential sales value, Mumbai breached the INR 1 lac crore mark in 2023 and 2024
• The sales value is expected to surpass INR 1.35 lac crore in 2025.

Let us deep dive into the growth trajectory of Mumbai over the years. The insights are divided into three broad phases.

• Phase 1 (2014 to 2019) – The establishment of RERA, and initiation of digitization of real estate
• Phase 2 (2020 to 2022) – Covid era
• Phase 3 (2023 onwards) – Post covid and healing

Figure 1.

• The pre covid era, majorly 2016 to 2018, witnessed implementation of RERA and uniformity in taxation with GST. These regulatory measures were intended towards the influx of transparency in the sector. However, no change is welcomed with open arms; such reforms need a sufficient gestation period for the democracy to adapt to and the alignment to structural changes.

This period of ambiguity resulted in a slowdown in the residential market.

• The market picked up the recovery path but was subsequently brought down following the sudden yet impactful nature of the pandemic.

The pandemic blotted both sales and launches across all geographies

• However, the revival of residential market was both fast and voluminous. The momentum of sales and launches picked up a good speed, the market sentiments changed, and it is in continuum even in 2025.

We will be majorly studying the past and recovery phases, i.e., 2014 to 2018 and 2022 till H1 2025 respectively.

Figure 2.

• 2014 to 2018 was a dynamic year range for residential market.

-The market demand for residential market was growing between 2014-15 stagnating 2016 onwards

-This came hand-in-hand with the initiation of RERA due to the ambiguity about the implication and implementation of the same.

-The oncoming of covid-19 stalled any movement including both sales and launches.

-The recovery post 2020E is significant and is expected to be growing in the nearing future.

I. Phase 1: Between 2016 and 2019

Submarket	Share of Launches	Share of Sale	Top micro location	Top price segments
Navi Mumbai	25%	27%	Panvel, Kharghar, Ulwe	Below INR 30 L  INR 50 L to 1 Cr
Thane	19%	20%	Ghodbunder Road, Kolshet Road, Pokhran Road, Balkum	INR 40 to 60 L INR 60 L to 1.2 Cr
Eastern Suburbs	18%	17%	Mulund (West), Kanjurmarg (East), Bhandup (West), Ghatkopar (West)	INR 60 to 80 L INR 80 lakh to 1.5 Cr

• Limited land availability within the city coupled with better connectivity resulted in expanding in residential activity along three zones – Eastern Suburbs and the sister cities of Thane and Navi Mumbai
• The connectivity between eastern suburbs, western suburbs, and the adjoining corporate hubs are well enhanced by the completion of the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar metro line, Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR), and Eastern Freeway.
• Navi Mumbai has been a star-child for Maharashtra government. The emergence of educational institutes, rampant social infrastructure, and development of Navi Mumbai Special Economic Zone (NMSEZ), the introduction of the Navi Mumbai Metro, the planned Navi Mumbai airport and the Mumbai Trans Harbor Link contributed largely to this spurge.
• Parallel to the above two, Thane experienced a surge in popularity as a residential destination, thanks to its improving social and physical infrastructure. The proposed Mumbai Metro Line 4 (Wadala-Thane-Kasarvadavali) impacted the submarket positively. Within Thane, the residential pockets of Pokhran Road, Kolshet Road, Ghodbunder Road and Balkum saw major interest from the buyers.

II. Phase 2: Covid Era

The phase doesn’t have any significant initiation of project, but the trickle down impact of the pre covid era

III. Phase 3: Post Covid till present

Submarket	Share of Launches	Share of Sale	Top micro location	Top price segments
Navi Mumbai	24%	22%	Panvel, Kharghar, Taloja	INR 30 lakh-50 lakh INR 50 lakh-1 crore
Thane	19%	22%	Ghodbunder Road, Kolshet Road, Balkum	INR 40 lakh-60 lakh INR 60 lakh-1.20 crore
Western Suburbs II	17%	15%	Malad (West), Kandivali (West), Borivali (East)	INR 1 crore-1.75 crore Above 1.75 crore

• Navi Mumbai and Thane continued to lead in terms of new launches and sales during 2022 – present
• The completion of transit infrastructure projects such as the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), the Navi Mumbai Suburban Rail, and Navi Mumbai Metro Line 1 has enhanced Navi Mumbai’s connectivity to Mumbai city significantly
• In addition to Kharghar and Panvel, Taloja has emerged as a leading residential corridor. The opening of Line 1 of the Navi Mumbai metro in 2023, connecting Taloja to Kharghar and CBD Belapur, has significantly contributed to the increasing appeal of Taloja for homebuyers
• Submarkets like western suburbs II (including Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, and Goregaon) offer a diverse range of residential projects and improved accessibility from various parts of the city
• This clubbed with the completion of Metro Lines 7 and 2A has substantially improved connectivity between residential clusters in Western Suburbs I and Western Suburbs II. Moreover, these lines connect seamlessly with Metro Line 1, enhancing connectivity to the Eastern Suburbs
• The ongoing extension of Line 2A to BKC scheduled for completion by the end of 2025 and the extension of Line 7 (scheduled for completion in 2026) to the airport are expected to further improve connectivity.

IV. What does the future hold?

The list of infrastructure initiatives and the impacted zones:

• Developers have acquired over 260 acres of land in Mumbai through outright purchase or joint development agreements specifically for residential development.
• This translates to a development potential of ~42-48 million sq. ft. with a sales potential of around INR 70,000 crore  
• Mumbai has witnessed the entry of prominent national and regional developers who have acquired land for their inaugural residential projects in the city.
• Looking ahead, it can be well anticipated that the mometum in residential sales, although a moderation in capital value appreciation is expected. The residential sales value is projected to surpass the INR 2 L Crore benchmark by 2030. 

** Data and excerpts taken from REIS, JLL Research.