In 2026, Micromarkets Hold The Edge In India’s Real Estate
Across top cities, these pockets bucked the overall trend and emerged as standout performers.
The Gist
- While overall sales have softened, premium segment homes priced between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 3 crore saw a 10% growth.
- Infrastructure-led micromarkets, particularly in NCR and Bengaluru, are witnessing significant price increases.
- Experts predict that developers will adopt a cautious approach, focusing on demand-driven projects rather than broad geographic expansion.
After three years of an unabated bull run, India’s real estate market is entering a more measured phase in 2026. The sales momentum has cooled, launches are no longer accelerating, and growth is fragmented across cities. This, however, doesn’t signal a downturn but shows that the market is reshaping in terms of where and how value is created.
In 2026, the Indian housing market will no longer be focused on city-level growth. Experts point to a different emerging trend. Micromarkets where real estate buys are linked to
infrastructure delivery, job creation and land scarcity converge. Across top cities, these pockets bucked the overall trend and emerged as standout performers.
Micromarket Math
Residential sales across India’s top seven cities declined 12% year-on-year in the January-September period, while new launches fell 1%, the first annual drop since the pandemic. The slowdown, however, masked a shift from city-wide performance to localised demand pockets.
“The overall real estate market is healthy, but it’s no longer broad-based. In 2026, real returns will come from choosing the right micro-market, not the right city. In fact, 2025 was the year of concentrated micro-market outperformance,” said Harsha Reddy Ponguleti, founder and managing director of Raghava Constructions.
This fragmentation is expected to amplify in 2026 with developers, investors and homebuyers continuing to prioritise connectivity, long-term livability and proximity to workplaces for speculative appreciation.
Premiumsation For Value Growth
The pivot towards premium housing has been one of the strongest signals for 2025, and will likely continue in 2026. Even as overall residential sales softened in 2025, premium segment homes priced between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 3 crore grew by around 10%.
According to Knight Frank’s outlook, financially stable end-users replaced speculative investors as the primary market drivers, contributing to sustained demand even as prices rose across key metros.
“In 2025, the residential real estate market in India demonstrated a varied performance across important micromarkets. While some locations experienced remarkable sales activity, others solidified their status as upscale neighbourhoods,” said Rahul Purohit, co-founder & chief business officer of India Real Estate at Square Yards, a real estate platform.
Developers, too, are recalibrating. JLL data shows that launches in the Rs1–3 crore bracket rose 9% year-on-year in 2025 YTD, even as overall launches declined. This selective supply approach is expected to define 2026.
Infrastructure Corridors To Set The Pace
Price leadership in 2026 will continue to belong to infrastructure-led micromarkets, especially those where connectivity projects are transitioning from announcement to execution.
Micromarkets can be best described as those with high demand, as well as areas where pricing power is most apparent. Three areas stand out when it comes to the sharpest price rises.
“NCR markets have seen the highest price growth between 2022 and 2025, ranging between 90% to 102%,” Anuj Puri, chairman of Anarock Group, a real estate services company. “Bengaluru’s Whitefield followed with 88% growth and Hyderabad’s Gachibowli and Kondapur with nearly 80-81% growth.”
Price potency is enjoyed by a certain number of pockets for various reasons. But the most common reason is connectivity.
These corridors are likely to remain resilient as infrastructure investments begin to reflect more tangibly in commute times and livability. Jewar International Airport is reshaping residential demand in Noida and Greater Noida, while Mumbai’s Trans-Harbour Link, Coastal Road, metro expansion and the Navi Mumbai International Airport are improving access to Panvel, Thane and Navi Mumbai.
In Bengaluru, the Peripheral Ring Road, Satellite Town Ring Road and Airport Terminal 2 expansion are elevating North Bengaluru, Whitefield and Hebbal as long-term growth zones.
“Infrastructure-linked micro-markets will remain the most resilient, fuelled by residential demand continuing to follow office corridors as return-to-office stabilises. Investor interest is expected to stay concentrated in premium, well-connected pockets, while end-user traction will be stronger in peripheral areas where pricing and connectivity align,” said Arpit Jain, director at Arkade Developers.
Near The Office
It’s not just transport links that are driving these markets. Proximity to employment hubs and well-planned township developments are also decisive factors for demand.
Pune’s Hinjewadi–Kharadi–Wakad belt is the city’s highest-momentum cluster, driven by IT expansion and infrastructure upgrades. Chennai’s OMR Road, Kolkata’s New Town and Rajarhat and Ahmedabad’s SG Highway are similarly evolving.
In fact, some of these areas have transformed extensively into urban, commercial hubs and centres attracting office as well as residential real estate projects along with homebuyers.
“Growth was driven by premium price acceptance, high absorption in connected corridors, expanding office districts and infrastructure upgrades while integrated township formats aligned with the rising preference for amenitized self-contained living,” said Rohan Khatau, director of CCI Projects.
Hyderabad’s West Zone is also seeing the IT corridor expand, new corporate campuses open, and metro extensions deepen its mobility advantage. Ponguleti said that areas like Kokapet, Neopolis, Raidurg, the Financial District, Budvel, Rajendranagar, and the Tellapur corridor stood out.
“They combined two things the rest of the city didn’t, i.e., job-led demand and scarcity of premium land. Office expansion, strong expat inflow, limited new parcels, and high developer interest kept these pockets trading above broader market averages,” he said.
Few Is More
The pricing power of an area is also determined by land scarcity and the attractiveness of an area to a city’s elite. The ultra-premium residences at Worli’s billionaire row, Lower Parel, and Gurgaon’s Golf Course Road continue to dominate pricing due to extreme scarcity of land as well as their upmarket appeal.
Premium pockets like Vashi, Airoli, and CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai sustained higher price points due to their mature ecosystems, established commercial centres, and limited land availability, which naturally reinforces their premium positioning, said Purohit.
While transaction volumes in such locations may remain thin, value growth is expected to outpace broader markets, reinforcing the divergence between headline city numbers and micromarket numbers.
A Selective, Disciplined 2026
Looking most experts expect overall l residential sales in 2026 to broadly mirror 2025 levels. But the difference will lie in distribution. Fewer locations will capture the larger share of demand and pricing power. Micromarkets will remain, with most cities retaining them for the next year or improving as most promised and progressing projects come to fruition.
“The outlook in 2026 is still strongly positive in value terms,” said Khatau. “Premiumisation, infrastructure-based corridors, employment-based housing demands and the attractiveness of well-planned communities such as townships are set to be the dominant trends. Value growth will surpass volumes as homebuyers are paying more attention to connectivity, quality and durability ecosystem and long-term lifestyle benefits.”
Developers, however, are expected to turn a tad cautious, shedding the exuberance of the first three years of the real estate upcycle. Puri expects developers to remain cautious and launch projects in markets and segments that are high in demand.
“Overall, the consensus across reports is that 2026 will reward developers who stay selective; product positioning, micro-market discipline and timing of launches will matter more than broad geographic expansion,” said Jain.
