India, Jan. 13 -- Mumbai's property market made headlines in 2025 when a sea-facing luxury apartment sold for nearly Rs.700 crore, or about Rs.3 lakh per sq ft. However, even as post-pandemic real estate prices have surged, the city's air quality has deteriorated, turning pollution into a growing civic concern that is beginning to influence home-buying decisions, experts said.

According to Mumbai-based NGO Praja Foundation, which researches civic issues, the city's Air Quality Index (AQI) worsened steadily between 2019 and 2022, rising from 92 in 2019 to 125 in 2022.

Over the last two years, AQI has also gone above 300 and 400 on several occasions. To address this, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India's largest civic body...