Source: Hindustan Times ( https://bit.ly/4opUMvA )

For much of urban India’s middle class, owning a home is quickly becoming an elusive dream. Despite a booming housing market and bullish demand, escalating prices, stagnant incomes and shrinking supply of affordable homes are pushing many would-be buyers toward rentals.

According to a 2025 poll of property analysts, average home prices in India have more than doubled over the past decade — and they are expected to rise further by 6–7% in the coming years. While interest rate cuts and easier mortgage terms have helped some, surging property values mean EMIs remain out of reach for many first-time buyers. In fact, many families are finding that the EMI burden pushes the typical age of first-time homeownership from the early 30s to the mid-40s.

A key problem: supply of homes in the lower and mid-price brackets — once the backbone of middle-class homeownership — is shrinking. Developers appear increasingly focused on mid- to premium- and luxury-segment projects, drawn by better margins and higher demand from upper-income buyers. As a result, inventory of affordable housing is thinning just when demand remains strong.

With many unable to afford ownership, renting or co-living are becoming increasingly common alternatives. Urban populations — especially younger professionals and nuclear families — are opting for flexibility and affordability, even if it means sacrificing long-term ownership.

Industry experts warn of a widening divide: those who can afford luxury homes continue to invest and accumulate property assets, while the middle class — once the engine of India’s aspirational homeownership — gets priced out. That, in turn, deepens inequality and reshapes urban living patterns.

Until affordable supply catches up with demand — or new models of housing financing emerge — homeownership may increasingly become a privilege, rather than a cornerstone of middle-class aspiration.