A five-year price analysis of residential realty market across 11 cities shows that the ever-expanding Navi Mumbai and Thane residential markets have registered the highest percentage of home price increase in the country followed by Mumbai.

According to the report released on Friday by the Confederation of Indian Industry and JLL India, both these locations on the outskirts of Mumbai have recorded a 80-85 per cent average price rise between April-June 2009 and January-March 2014.

In the same period Mumbai has shown a 75-80 per cent average price increase. The lowest increase has been in Hyderabad (25 per cent), Noida & Greater Noida (25 to 30 per cent) and Delhi NCR (30 per cent).

“The main reason for the percentage increase in Navi Mumbai and Thane prices is because to begin with the prices in these locations were very affordable. As connectivity to Mumbai improved over the years and a lot of developers launched quality project in these locations, the residential real estate demand too increased greatly resulting in an hike in prices,” said Anuj Puri, chairman and country head, JLL India.

He added that in comparison, markets in the Delhi-NCR belt such as Noida and Greater Noida, which have shown slower rate of growth in prices, always had good connectivity. The report further states that with the Reserve Bank of India not expected to decrease interest rates in the short to medium term, residential sales are likely to remain low. Despite the increase in prices, data shows that absorption of residential property is presently at a five year low of just of 10 per cent of the inventory.

The low sales volumes in the residential market would mean more project launches in the high-sale volume “affordable segment”, wherein developers usually launch modest-sized homes in the most peripheral areas of Mumbai Metropolitan Region.