2026 Real Estate Insights

Did the year 2025 change Indian buyer's outlook?

India's urban housing market in 2025 is marked by a structural affordability breakdown. While demand for entry-level and mid-segment housing continues to grow at double-digit rates, new supply has decisively shifted toward higher-priced, premium products. Across major metros, the share of sub-₹1 crore launches has steadily declined, pricing out a significant portion of end-users. Nearly 42% of buyers in Bangalore and Pune, 39% in Mumbai, 62% in Noida, 79% in Gurgaon, and an alarming 84% in Hyderabad report being priced out of their preferred segments. This is not a cyclical slowdown but a deliberate developer pivot driven by rising land costs and margin optimization.

As cities struggle to expand infrastructure at the pace of population growth, large townships and mega-projects have emerged as the dominant development model. Projects with 500+ units are increasingly common across Bangalore, Hyderabad's ORR belt, and Navi Mumbai, offering developers phasing flexibility and buyers self-contained ecosystems.

Simultaneously, the resale market has strengthened sharply. Investors who entered between 2020–2023 are exiting with 60–80% appreciation, releasing high-quality, ready-to-move inventory into the market. With new-launch prices moving up the curve, resale homes have become the primary value channel for price-sensitive buyers, particularly in established gated communities across Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.

Other defining trends include shrinking apartment sizes despite rising ticket prices, reflecting densification strategies, and a clear digital disruption in property discovery, with buyers increasingly relying on AI tools and online platforms over traditional brokerage models. Underpinning all of this is strong price appreciation since 2019, led by Gurgaon (85%) and Hyderabad (81%), with sustained momentum across Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, and Noida.