As builders seek to reduce apartment sizes to boost affordability, the average area of residential flats has shrunk 27 percent over the past five years in seven major cities, but dimensions in the NCR region have fallen merely six percent, according to Anarock.

"The liquidity crisis, changing buyer preferences, and growing concerns about affordability... have caused real estate developers to rethink the conventional wisdom of 'bigger is better', and significantly moderate unit sizes across seven major cities," Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri said in a statement.

The property consultant said, the average apartment sizes in the top seven cities - Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata - have shrunk by 27 percent over the past five years from 1,400 sq ft in 2014 to nearly 1,020 sq ft in 2019 so far.

"Surprisingly, NCR one of the worst-hit residential markets in recent years - has seen the least decline of merely 6 percent during this period," he added.

The current average size of flats in NCR is nearly 1,390 sq ft.