Ahmedabad: The largest city in Gujarat, Ahmedabad has been ranked number one in the list of India’s most economically affordable cities, as per the Affordability Index recently released by real estate consultancy Knight Frank on Wednesday. This index gauges the relationship between equated monthly installments and the income of an average household.

During the initial half of 2023, Ahmedabad exhibited the lowest ratio among the leading eight Indian cities, standing at 23%. Close behind were Pune and Kolkata, each with ratios of 26%. These figures reflect the proportion of an individual’s income designated for EMI payments.

In contrast, Mumbai emerged as the least affordable city, sporting a ratio of 55%. Hyderabad followed at 31%, and the National Capital Region at 30%.

To illustrate, if a city holds an Affordability Index of 40%, it implies that, on average, the residents of that city must allocate 40% of their income to cover monthly housing loan installments.

After the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) escalated the benchmark repo rate by 250 basis points in response to mounting inflation concerns last year, the EMI burden has surged. According to Knight Frank’s findings, this has resulted in an average 2.5% decline in affordability across cities, accompanied by a 14.4% increase in the EMI burden. Nevertheless, despite these changes, demand has remained robust and sustained the elevated levels witnessed in the first half of 2023. DeshGujarat