Realty Boom: Builders Buy 6,000 Acres for ₹90,000 Crore in 2 Years

Land acquisition in India’s real estate sector has touched a frenzy, with developers acquiring almost 6,000 acres of land valued at ₹90,000 crore from 2022 to 2024. This spike comes against the backdrop of increasing demand for housing and commercial spaces, according to data from real estate consultancy JLL India.

The data shows that 1,603 acres were purchased in 2022 at a cost of ₹18,112 crore and 1,947 acres in 2023 for ₹32,203 crore. The momentum continued in 2024 too, with 2,335 acres changing hands across 134 transactions in 23 cities for ₹39,742 crore.

Purchases Of Land Driven By Residential Demand

In 2024, a remarkable 81% of the land purchased is meant for residential construction, given the rising demand for housing. The new land holds a real estate development potential of 194 mn sq ft.

Tier I cities, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and Pune continued to be the preferred destination with volume of 72% of the total land acquisitions, JLL India stated. But Tier II and III cities are also slowly picking up steam, adding a total of 662 acres (28%) to the stock.

Interest in Emerging Markets

One big shift in acquisitions in 2024 was the rise of smaller cities as primary investment targets. Nagpur, Varanasi, Indore, and Vrindavan have emerged as new hotspots and signaled rising confidence in Indian urban markets.

These figures, which are for outright purchases, do not include joint development agreements (JDAs), another key route for expansion in the real estate sector, JLL India said.

Realty: A Year to the Milestone

Referring to 2024 as a watershed year” for India’s real estate, JLL India pointed to the aggressive expansion plans undertaken by developers. With increasing urbanization and a burgeoning middle class driving housing demand, investments in real estate are likely to continue flourishing in the years ahead.