Blog · Where the money goes · Bengaluru
Where are people investing in Bengaluru right now?
Sales up 12%, launches up 17%, and a clear winner on the map. The first in our 'Where the money goes' series follows the buyers across Bengaluru.
Bengaluru's property market has a habit of confounding the pessimists. While India's top seven cities grew home sales just 3% in the September quarter, Bengaluru grew 12%. Where is that money going? We followed the buyers.
Bengaluru, Q3 2026
Figure 1. Source: ANAROCK Q3 2026; Knight Frank India H1 2026
The big picture
ANAROCK counted about 16,670 homes sold in Bengaluru in July to September 2026, up 12% on a year earlier and 9% on the previous quarter. Developers launched about 17,720 new homes, and average prices rose about 8% over the year, second only to NCR among India's big cities. Knight Frank's numbers tell a similar story: the city average reached ₹9,354 per sq ft by June, up 9% in a year.
The engine is jobs. In the first half of 2026, Bengaluru absorbed 14.1 million sq ft of office space, with global capability centres, the in-house tech and operations hubs of multinational companies, taking 60% of it. The city now accounts for about 41% of all GCC office leasing in India. Office rents rose 8%. Every new GCC campus hires thousands of engineers, analysts and managers, and they need homes.
Where are they buying? Follow the price growth.
The micro-market league table
Price growth, 12 months to June 2026
Figure 2. Source: Knight Frank India, via PropNewz
The league table is revealing. The top performers aren't the famous luxury addresses; Lavelle Road and Langford Town were flat. They are the connected, mid-to-upper market corridors:
- KR Puram (+20%): east Bengaluru's transit hub, transformed by metro connectivity to Whitefield and the city centre.
- Yelahanka (+18%) and Hebbal (+11%): the gateway to the north, riding the airport, the upcoming airport metro line and new office districts.
- Tumkur Road (+16%): an industrial and logistics corridor turning residential.
- Marathahalli (+15%) and Whitefield (+14%): the original IT heartland, still pulling buyers thanks to proximity to tech parks.
At the bottom, Sarjapur Road (+3%) shows what too much supply does to prices, even in a popular area.
North is the new east
North, East, South: how the zones compare
| Zone | Unsold homes (H1 2026) | Quarters to sell | What's happening |
|---|---|---|---|
| North | 15,408 (+34%) | 3.9 | Tightest large zone; airport metro, Hebbal offices, aerospace park |
| East | 22,878 (+19%) | 4.9 | Whitefield, KR Puram, Old Madras Road; sales dipped 9% |
| South | 33,534 (+20%) | 7.4 | Sarjapur, E-City, Kanakapura; 36% of new launches, slowest to sell |
| City total | 74,299 (+22%) | 5.3 | Healthier than Mumbai (6.5) and NCR (7.9) |
Figure 3. Source: Knight Frank India, H1 2026, via PropNewz
The single clearest signal in the data is North Bengaluru's tightness. Unsold stock there would take just 3.9 quarters to sell at the current pace, the lowest of any large zone. South Bengaluru, by contrast, holds over 33,000 unsold homes and would take 7.4 quarters to clear, because developers have concentrated a third of new launches there.
What's driving the north? The airport and its growing business district, Hebbal's office corridor, the KIADB aerospace park, and above all the Blue Line metro to the airport, targeted for June 2027. When a metro line reaches a corridor, apartment demand within walking distance of stations typically jumps.
Bengaluru's money is moving north, following the airport, the offices and the metro piers.
Who is buying?
- Tech professionals upgrading: the core of demand, typically buying ₹1–2 crore homes near work.
- NRIs: a weaker rupee (about ₹97 per dollar in October 2026) means every dollar or dirham earned abroad buys more of Bengaluru than a year ago.
- Investors seeking rent: rental demand near tech parks keeps yields around 4% in the city centre.
- Plot buyers: peripheral layouts along the airport and Hoskote corridors attract buyers betting on long-term infrastructure.
Where to be careful
Affordable homes are struggling. Homes below ₹50 lakh would take about 21 quarters to sell at the current pace. That segment is squeezed between rising construction costs and stretched buyers.
Inventory is rising. Unsold stock across the city rose about 22% to some 74,000 units by mid-2026. Launches are outpacing sales in places, which caps price growth.
Interest rates are turning. The RBI raised its repo rate to 5.50% in October 2026. Home-loan rates will drift up; buyers relying heavily on loans will feel it.
Infrastructure delays. Bengaluru's metro deadlines have slipped before. Buy for what exists or is clearly being built, not for brochure promises.
Our watch list
- Hebbal–Yelahanka–Devanahalli: the strongest combination of jobs, infrastructure and tight supply.
- KR Puram–Old Madras Road: metro-led growth with access to both east and central Bengaluru.
- Whitefield's established pockets: mature demand and good resale liquidity.
- Selected South Bengaluru projects: only at a discount, given the supply overhang.
A walk around the city, zone by zone
North (Hebbal, Yelahanka, Thanisandra, Hennur, Devanahalli). Twenty years ago this was the road to the old airport and not much else. The new international airport at Devanahalli changed that, and the northern corridor has since filled with tech parks, hotels, schools and gated communities. The coming airport metro and the business district around the airport are the next catalysts. It's no surprise that this is where unsold stock is tightest.
East (Whitefield, KR Puram, Marathahalli, Old Madras Road). The cradle of Bengaluru's IT boom. Traffic gave it a bad name for years, but the Purple Line metro to Whitefield has changed daily life for thousands of commuters, and KR Puram's 20% price jump reflects that. The east is mature: lots of resale stock, plenty of rental demand and well-known schools.
South (Sarjapur Road, Electronic City, Bannerghatta Road, Kanakapura Road). Large land parcels and big projects have made the south the launch capital of the city, with 36% of new launches in the first half of 2026. That supply is why price growth has lagged, and why this is the zone where negotiating hard makes most sense.
Central (Lavelle Road, Langford Town, Malleswaram, Indiranagar, Koramangala). The prestige addresses. Prices are high and supply is scarce, but the luxury end was flat in the year to June. Malleswaram's 13% rise shows that well-located older neighbourhoods with redevelopment potential can still surprise.
West (Tumkur Road, Rajajinagar, Yeshwanthpur). Traditionally industrial, now mixed-use. Tumkur Road's 16% growth reflects new residential projects near metro and logistics hubs.
A worked example: a ₹1.5 crore 3BHK near Hebbal
Suppose you buy a ready 3BHK near Hebbal for ₹1.5 crore. Add 6–7% for stamp duty and registration (about ₹10 lakh) plus interiors. Rent at about ₹52,000 a month gives a gross yield of about 4.2%. If prices grow 7% a year, which is below the micro-market's recent pace, the home would be worth about ₹2.95 crore in ten years. Put those numbers, your loan rate and your costs into our return calculator to see the annual return after costs.
The NRI angle
NRIs are a growing share of Bengaluru's buyers, and 2026 has given them two reasons to act. First, the rupee's slide means overseas earnings stretch further: about ₹97 per US dollar and ₹26 per UAE dirham in late October. Second, Bengaluru's job-driven rental market offers dependable tenants for owners who live abroad. NRIs can generally buy residential and commercial property freely (but not agricultural land), paying through NRE, NRO or FCNR accounts. Our NRI Desk explains the details.
What would change our view
- A sharp slowdown in GCC hiring or office leasing.
- Further big rate hikes that push home-loan rates well above today's levels.
- Serious delays to the airport metro line.
- Inventory continuing to climb faster than sales across all zones, not just the south.
Questions readers ask us
Is it too late for North Bengaluru? Prices have moved, but the airport metro isn't open yet and office supply is still being built. Pick projects within reach of stations and offices, and check every approval.
Ready or under construction? With rates rising, ready homes remove execution risk and start earning rent immediately. Under-construction homes from reputable developers can still offer better entry prices.
Plots or apartments? Plots have done well on the periphery, but check titles, conversion and layout approvals carefully. Apartments are easier to rent and resell.
The Honour Estates view
Bengaluru remains India's most job-driven housing market, and the money is moving north and to metro-connected corridors in the east. Avoid oversupplied stretches, stress-test your loan for higher rates, and buy where people already need to live, not where brochures say they will.
Sources
- ANAROCK Q3 2026 via The Realty Today
- PropNewz, 'Is Bangalore real estate crashing? 2026 data check' (Knight Frank and ANAROCK data)
- SCC Online, RBI hikes repo rate (Oct 2026)
- Numbeo property investment rankings
Figures are the latest published at the time of writing (16 November 2026). Quotes are short excerpts with attribution. This article is general information, not financial, legal, tax or immigration advice.
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