Top insights from RBI Housing Prices Index: 5 points

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its latest All-India House Price Index (HPI) for the second quarter of 2025-26, offering insights into the evolving trends in the residential property market. Based on transaction-level data from 18 major cities, the HPI recorded a slowdown in growth, reflecting a cautious housing market across India.

Key takeaways

1. The All-India HPI rose 2.2% year-on-year in Q2:2025-26, a sharp moderation from 7% in the same quarter last year. The RBI noted, “All India HPI recorded an annual growth (y-o-y) of 2.2 per cent in Q2:2025-26 as compared to 7 per cent registered in the corresponding quarter a year ago.”

2. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the index fell 0.6%, dropping from 113.4 in Q1 to 112.7 in Q2:2025-26. Major cities contributing to this decline included Kolkata, Chennai, and Lucknow.

3. While some metros showed a slowdown, cities like Nagpur, Ghaziabad, and Chandigarh supported the annual rise in the HPI, demonstrating that growth is concentrated in select urban markets.

4. The RBI’s HPI tracks housing prices across 18 major cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, and Jaipur. The index is compiled quarterly using transaction-level data and now uses 2022-23 as the base year, replacing 2010-11.

5. The RBI data highlights a divergence in trends, emerging cities are driving moderate growth, while major metros see slight price corrections. This serves as a useful benchmark for policymakers, developers, investors, and homebuyers navigating India’s residential property market.

Overall, the Q2:2025-26 HPI underscores a period of cautious growth in housing prices, with select cities continuing to support the market despite a general slowdown.