Budget home buyers priced out of Gurugram's luxury boom
Mumbai remains India's most valuable property market, but Gurugram, part of the larger National Capital Region, has seen a sharp price rise and sales driven by a return of investors and end-users.
Bengaluru: Gurugram’s post-pandemic property boom, driven by soaring prices and a rush of luxury housing, is starting to run into its own limits, with developers and consultants warning that homes increasingly priced beyond the reach of end-users are getting harder to sell, even as the national capital's suburban city remains one of India’s hottest real estate markets. In today's Gurugram, high residential prices, large-sized homes, branded residences, and an increasingly luxury-focused market are leaving affordable and mid-income home buyers out in the cold.
Mumbai remains India's most valuable property market, but Gurugram, part of the larger National Capital Region (NCR) has seen a sharp price rise and sales driven by a return of investors and end-users. As Gurugram’s dominant developer DLF Ltd sold inventory of over ₹10,000 crore from single projects such as Privana North in recent years, the rest of the market too went into a luxury overdrive.
There are, however, signs of the market heating up. On Monday, Signature Global, the fifth largest real estate developer by sales in FY25, said it is unlikely to meet its FY26 sales guidance of ₹12,500 crore citing a ‘soft’ market environment. The company's operations are entirely focused on Gurugram.
Santhosh Kumar, vice-chairman of Anarock Property Consultants, said the Gurugram market is a bit weak now due to a rise in home prices and sizes of units. “Housing demand is still there, but most of it is beyond the reach of end-users. Investors are mostly out of the market because if the prices have gone up so much, how will they get returns? Some launches have done well, but sales of above ₹6-7 crore homes are slow," Kumar said.
In 2025, Delhi-NCR recorded the highest yearly average residential price rise of 23%, mostly fuelled by Gurugram. Other major cities in the country saw a single-digit appreciation of 4-9%.
Navdeep Sardana, the founder of Whiteland Corp, a Gurugram developer, said that after the steady investor activity over the last three to four years, the current market is more end-user demand driven. “In a bull-market, everything sells well. But real estate is a cyclical business. After four to five years of high sales, the pace has slowed down, though end-user demand is there," said Sardana.
In ‘Westin Residences’, a branded residences project at Sector 103, Dwarka Expressway, Whiteland has increased prices in the last six months since launch, and says it still sold almost 60% inventory. The residences are priced between ₹6.5 crore to ₹11-12 crore.
“Due to high land and construction costs, the Gurugram market does not allow homes in the ₹2-5 crore category anymore. The average price of homes is ₹7-8 crore," Sardana added.
Weighted average prices have appreciated by more than 100% since 2020 in Gurugram, the highest among major cities.
While property consultants sound caution over the luxury overdrive, and the lack of mid-income housing unique to Gurugram, developers continue to bet on high-end projects.
On Tuesday, M3M India and Smartworld Developers announced a brand partnership with luxury fashion designer ELIE SAAB for two high-end residential projects in Gurugram and Noida, another hot realty market in NCR. The two projects, Signature Residences by ELIE SAAB, will see the Lebanese designer firm playing a role in the design and architecture.
The Gurugram project, to be developed by M3M, will have four-and-a-half bedroom homes, with prices starting ₹15 crore. Smartworld will develop the Noida project, where the apartments will cost ₹9-12.5 crore.
“There is strong demand for branded residences. Our potential buyers include HNIs, old business houses, and from tier-2 cities too. Our target is to sell both the projects in three to six months," Pankaj Bansal, promoter of M3M and founder of Smartworld, told Mint.
However, Bansal did caution that in the current Gurugram market, new-age developers with no delivery track record or those whose product quality is not at par with the high pricing, may face challenges.
As per Liases Foras Research, the weighted average price of an unsold residential unit is ₹4 crore in Gurugram, higher than in Mumbai, where it is around ₹3 crore. Per square foot prices are, however, higher in Mumbai.
Real estate firm BPTP Ltd clocked around ₹1,300 crore of sustenance sales (from existing projects) in FY26 so far, but plans to close the year with ₹4,000 crore of sales. In the current quarter, it will launch a new project in Golf Course Extension, with homes priced ₹7-9 crore, compared to its average ticket size of ₹4-6 crore.
“Given the population of Gurugram, the annual supply of 40,000-50,000 units is low. Developers continue to sell, but there is consolidation in the market," said Manik Malik, chief executive officer of BPTP.
"In NCR, the construction cost is higher than in Mumbai because people want larger clubhouses and similar amenities. Other than those with historical land bank, current land prices are also high," Malik said.
The surge in luxury housing has led to people speculating about a new real estate bubble in Gurugram, or if this can be sustained.
“How much luxury housing can a market absorb? In locations, where the infrastructure is not up to the mark, the pricing seems irrational," said Liases Foras' managing director Pankaj Kapoor. "I think developers will need to perhaps redesign their projects to sell at a quicker pace."
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