Bhubaneswar: Amid steep rise in property costs across the city, Bhubaneswar is now considered one of the least affordable cities in the country among homebuyers.
Findings of a new study show that even top earners in the state capital would require over five decades of savings to be able to own a decent home. The top 5 per cent of urban families in the state would need over 50 years of savings to afford a mid-sized house.
The new information emerged through a countrywide comparative analysis made by the National Housing Board (NHB) and The Times of India, using 2025 house price data and income statistics.
The calculations in the study have been made on the basis of the annual savings potential of the top five per cent urban earners in each state, using the national average savings-to-GDP ratio of 30.2 per cent.
In case of Odisha, these households have higher monthly per capita expenditure compared to national averages, while housing prices in Bhubaneswar far outstrip their savings capacity.
Of the 21 state capitals for which carpet area price data was available from NHB, in 10 it would take more than 30 years of savings to buy a house. Chandigarh is the most affordable, as 15 years of savings will be enough to buy a 1,184 square feet house. Jaipur is the only other city where less than 20 years of savings would suffice.
A standard 1,184 sq ft house in Bhubaneswar, considered the median size by NHB, remains out of reach even for the affluent, replicating trends observed in other high-cost urban centres like Mumbai and Gurgaon.
Bhubaneswar joins the list of 10 Indian capital cities where it takes over 30 years of savings to afford a home. While Mumbai tops the list at 109 years and Gurgaon follows at 63, Odisha’s capital too demands more than five decades of disciplined savings from its wealthiest urban dwellers.
By contrast, cities like Chandigarh and Jaipur present a far more optimistic picture, with home ownership theoretically achievable in 15 to 20 years, respectively.
The findings underscore a growing affordability gap in India’s urban housing market. With property prices continuing to rise and wages unable to keep pace, home ownership is increasingly becoming a distant dream, even for those at the top of the income spectrum.
Considered an affordable and liveable urban centre only a few years ago, Bhubaneswar is now facing a severe housing crisis. With property prices in the state capital regularly breaching the Rs one crore mark, buying a house has become extremely tough for middle-class and low-income families.
