Mumbai: Magicbricks, India’s leading real estate platform, today announced the release of its latest Rental Index for April–June 2026 (AMJ’26), providing an in-depth view of rental demand, supply and rental value trends across key residential markets in India. The report captures the changing preferences of tenants and the evolving dynamics of the country’s digitally driven rental housing market.

India’s rental market witnessed renewed activity during the quarter, with rental demand increasing 16% QoQ in AMJ’26, while supply also expanded by 4.5% QoQ. This points to an active market where both tenant interest and availability are continuing to develop, even as preferences remain strongly anchored around affordability and practical housing requirements.

The report estimates India’s residential rental search market at an annual demand potential of INR 7.53 lakh crore in 2026, highlighting the scale of rental housing activity being driven through digital property discovery. The market has grown at a 2.4% CAGR between 2024 and 2026, reflecting the increasing role of online platforms in helping tenants explore and evaluate rental options.

Tenant preferences continue to point towards homes that offer a balance between cost and liveability. The INR 10,000–20,000 segment accounts for 35% of rental demand, followed by the INR 20,000–30,000 segment at 21%. In terms of configuration, 2 BHK homes remain the most preferred, accounting for 46% of demand, followed by 1 BHK homes at 30%. Compact-to-mid-sized homes are also gaining preference, with properties measuring 500–1,000 sq. ft. accounting for 46% of rental demand.

Furnishing is another important consideration in the rental search journey. Semi-furnished homes account for 55% of tenant demand, indicating a preference for homes that offer essential conveniences while still allowing tenants flexibility in setting up their living spaces. At the same time, the report highlights a demand-supply mismatch across rental budgets, with tenant searches concentrated in the INR 10,000–30,000 range while supply has a relatively stronger presence in higher rental brackets.

Rental markets across cities, meanwhile, continued to display varied trajectories. Greater Noida recorded the highest quarterly growth in rental demand at 32.5%, followed by Delhi at 30.6%, Kolkata at 27% and Noida at 25.7%. This reflects the growing importance of emerging urban centres and well-connected residential corridors in shaping rental activity.

Rental values also continued to move upwards at the national level, registering 2.2% QoQ and 6.2% YoY growth. However, city-level movements remained diverse, underlining the importance of looking beyond headline national trends when assessing individual rental markets. Navi Mumbai, for instance, recorded 11.1% YoY growth in rental values during the quarter.

Prasun Kumar, Chief Marketing Officer, Magicbricks, said, “India’s rental market is becoming more dynamic, with tenants increasingly evaluating homes through a combination of affordability, space, location and convenience. The latest Rental Index reflects how these factors are shaping rental searches across different markets. As rental housing continues to evolve, data-driven insights can help tenants, landlords and other stakeholders better understand market movements and make more informed decisions.”

The Magicbricks Rental Index AMJ’26 brings together insights on rental demand and supply, rental budgets, home configurations, property sizes, furnishing preferences, rental values and locality-level trends across key Indian markets. The report is part of Magicbricks Research’s broader effort to track and decode changing real estate market behaviour through data-led insights.