After home run, South and West developers tap NCR to drive growth

New Delhi: The NCR real estate market has emerged as the top priority for developers from South and West India with the region becoming the biggest market for them after their home states.

While Prestige Group and Sobha from Bengaluru have already expanded their base in NCR, Puravankara has recently acquired a 13.44-acre land parcel for its first project here.

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From west, Godrej Properties is already a big player in NCR market, while Oberoi realty launched its Rs 16,000 crore project in Gurugram and expects the NCR-market to be as big as Mumbai.

L&T realty has also acquired land in Gurugram and Delhi while Lodha is set to launch its first project in NCR.

“NCR has become an important expansion market for established developers from South and West India, given the depth of its residential market and a buyer base that has become more receptive to national brands. What is distinctive about NCR is the strong participation we see at the early stages of the project lifecycle, which can help credible developers establish sales momentum relatively quickly,” said Shalin Raina, MD, residential services, Cushman & Wakefield.

At the same time, buyers are becoming more discerning. Brand credibility, execution track record, product quality and delivery are increasingly important considerations, which has created opportunities for established developers even when they are relatively new to the region.

“NCR has become an important part of our pan-India growth strategy. The region offers scale, strong housing demand and significant infrastructure-led growth. We are seeing a clear shift in how established developers from South and West India view NCR. It is no longer just an expansion market. It is becoming an important growth market. The combination of strong brands, execution capabilities and customer trust is bringing greater depth to the market,” said Rajat Rastogi, CEO- West & commercial assets, Puravankara Limited.

The entry of established names reflects confidence in the region’s demand, pricing and development potential.

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“The reasons are attributed to Infrastructure, wide geography and four states with different administrations and healthy competition for the development of the region. Large geography gives a very diverse development mix availability from ultra luxury high rise to affordable plotted, build-to-lease commercial complexes to strata sold commercial, mall spaces to SCO (shop cum office) plots and specific use to mix use,” said Hardeep Lamba, founder and MD of Rezonance Consultants.

Large and listed real estate developers are steadily reducing their dependence on home markets and expanding into other metro cities to tap growth opportunities, an Anarock analysis of investor presentations and annual reports and regulatory filings of the top 11 listed developers, said.

“Interest from NRIs with roots in North India also adds to the breadth of the buyer base. The response to several new entrants over the past few years has given developers greater confidence in NCR as a long-term market. As a result, we are seeing expansion into the region become less about testing a new geography and more about building a meaningful and sustained presence,” Raina said.

According to the Anarock analysis, only 32% of Godrej Properties’ FY26 pre-sales came from its home market of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), down from 55% in FY21, underscoring its aggressive expansion strategy.

Prestige Estates has also sharply reduced its dependence on Bengaluru. The city’s contribution to pre-sales fell to 40% in FY26 from about 90% in FY21 as Mumbai, Hyderabad and NCR gained prominence in its launch pipeline.

Sobha accelerated its expansion beyond Bengaluru in FY26, with nearly a third of its launches and sales contribution coming from other markets. Brigade Enterprises and Puravankara also widened their footprint across Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai.

In contrast, DLF, Oberoi Realty, Keystone and Signature Global remained heavily concentrated in their home markets, reflecting a more region-focused growth strategy than peers pursuing wider expansion.

DLF remained heavily dependent on NCR, which accounted for nearly 90% of its FY26 pre-sales. Signature Global continued to derive all its FY26 pre-sales from NCR.

However, DLF has entered Mumbai and is expected to launch the second phase of its project there this financial year.