The Housing sales in top eight Indian cities surged by 13% in fiscal 2018. The growth is led by affordable housing and mid-income segments. The improvement in the sales of houses comes in after the market supported 5% rise in sales during the previous year.

The improvement in the sales of the houses signals the beginning of a recovery in the residential property market.

Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, witnessed maximum growth and grew by a phenomenon rate of 25% as compared with other metropolitan cities, as per the data are shown from Liases Foras Real Estate Rating & Research.

Delhi, the national capital of the country occupied the second position, with a hike in sales of homes by 19% during the year.

Chennai and Bengaluru are showing a decline in the sales number during last year and it stood at 15% and 5% respectively. Whereas in Hyderabad popularly known as the city of pearls, the sales of houses increased and recorded 17% growth in the sector.

One can observe that post demonetization, there is a decrease in the transaction of buying and selling of houses across the country.

Affordable housing continues to be in the mainstay of demand as the contribution from this segment to the overall sales in tier I cities including Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad stands at 18% in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The main reason behind the improvement in sales can be attributed to lower home loan interest rates and necessary catalyst by the government to affordable housing.

The government has done a great job by extending the tenure of loan period under credit linked subsidy scheme (CLSS) of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) which has shown a positive growth in the housing sector, apart from this it has supported the housing sector through affordable housing funds, lower GST (Goods & Services Tax) rates and has extended income tax benefits to the apartments measuring 645 square feet carpet area.

State Bank of India the country's largest Public lender is offering attractive interest rates on home loans starting at 8.35% onwards per annum. It is also providing the loan to women folk both salaried and non-salaried individuals at a lesser rate of interest as compared with the male counterparts.

Following in the footsteps of SBI, Bajaj Finserve, Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Dena Bank are also offering a rate of interest starting from 8.35% onwards per annum.