Average Apartment Loading Hits 40% in Top Cities in Q1 2025 from 31% in 2019: ANAROCK

Mumbai, June 9, 2025: Amid the rising demand for state-of-the-art amenities within housing projects, the ‘loading’ factor has been on the rise across the top cities, according to the latest ANAROCK Research data. In residential apartments, the average loading factor is the difference between the super-built-up area and the carpet area.

“While RERA now requires developers to mention the total carpet area provided to homebuyers, no law currently limits the loading factor in projects,” says Prashant Thakur, Regional Director and Head, Research and Advisory, ANAROCK Group.

“Q1 2025 readings show that 60 per cent of the total space within their apartment homebuyers in the top seven cities pay for now is liveable space, and the remaining 40 per cent is common areas—elevators, lobbies, staircases, clubhouses, amenities, terraces and so on. The average loading percentage was 31 per cent back in 2019.”

Among the top seven cities, Bengaluru has seen the highest percentile jump in average loading over the last seven years— from 30 per cent in 2019 to 41 per cent in Q1 2025. In 2022, it was 35 per cent. This dovetails with the increasingly higher saturation of modern amenities that developers now include to cater to the higher lifestyle ask in the IT hub.
 
MMR continues to see the highest loading among the top seven cities with 43 per cent in Q1 2025. The region has seen the average loading percentage grow steadily over the years— from 33 per cent in 2019 to 39 per cent in 2022, and 43 per cent in Q1 2025.
 
Chennai, on the other hand, has the least average loading rise in Q1 2025 with 36 per cent, aligning with a city-specific demand profile where homebuyers prefer to pay more for usable space within their homes rather than for common areas. In 2019, Chennai’s average loading percentage was 30 per cent, like Bengaluru. It gradually rose to 32 per cent in 2022 and further to 36 per cent in Q1 2025.

In NCR, the average loading percentage rose from 31 per cent in 2019 to 37 per cent in 2022 and to 41 per cent in Q1 2025.

In Pune, it was 32 per cent in 2019, rose to 36 per cent in 2022 and stood at 40 per cent in Q1 2025.

Hyderabad saw average loading percentage increase from 30 per cent in 2019 to 33 per cent in 2022 and to 38 per cent in Q1 2025

Kolkata too saw its average loading factor increase from 30 per cent in 2019 to 35 per cent in 2022 and further to 39 per cent in Q1 2025.
 
“In the past, a loading of 30 per cent or less was thought to be typical,” says Thakur. “Today, higher amenity loading has become the norm across most projects partly because homebuyers are no longer satisfied with basic lifestyle amenities—they expect fitness centres, clubhouses, park-like gardens and grand lobbies.”

These features may improve comfort, community liveability, and also resale value, he adds. “However, homebuyers effectively lose on actual usable space within their apartments.”
 
Essential infrastructure in modern housing projects now typically includes more lifts with bigger passenger capacities, amplified utility areas and fire escapes that meet regulatory safety protocols. In high-density urban developments, optimising space for both private and shared use is crucial for a better living experience and long-term value, making some level of extra loading an inescapable fact of life.
 
“In most cases, buyers across cities, except in Maharashtra, are unaware of how much they pay towards the overall usable space within their apartment. Respective state RERAs should ideally enforce provisions wherein each project clearly mentions how much buyers pay for the total usable space within the apartment and amenities.”

Source: ANAROCK Research & Advisory

Calculating loading factor

Formula: Loading Percentage = (Super built-up area – Carpet area) ÷ Carpet area × 100
Example: If super built-up area = 1,300 sq ft and carpet area = 1,000 sq ft, then loading percentage = (1,300 – 1,000) ÷ 1,000 × 100 = 30%.