According to Anarock, there is an urban housing shortage of roughly 10 million units, and at least 25 million affordable homes are needed by 2030 and despite short-term friction from geopolitical tensions and global market volatility, India’s strong domestic demand, infrastructure investments, and regulatory reforms will fuel real estate growth.
Also read: India emerges APAC’s top bet for real estate returns across sectors: CBRE survey
“India’s real estate sector no longer faces a shortage of capital. The real challenge is whether this capital can reach beyond the top developers and major metros to fund affordable housing, smaller developers, and emerging Tier II & Tier III cities,” said Shobhit Agarwal, CEO, Anarock Capital.
Despite increasing institutional participation, capital remains concentrated with established developers in the top metropolitan markets. This leaves a critical gap in affordable housing, where India is estimated to require 25 million additional units by 2030.
“Despite strong demand, affordable housing remains underfunded and requires dedicated capital structures. There is an urban housing shortage of roughly 10 million units, and at least 25 million affordable homes are needed by 2030. Yet affordable housing supply has sharply declined – homes priced below Rs 40 lakh accounted for just 10% of new launches in Q1 2026, down from 26% in 2021. At the same time, premium housing has surged, with homes priced above Rs 1.5 crore making up 53% of new launches,” said Vishal Srivastava, Head – Corporate Finance, Managing Director, Anarock Capital.
In 2024, India had more than 4.5 lakh stalled affordable and mid-income homes across 1,500+ projects, requiring Rs 55,000 crore in funding support.
The government-backed SWAMIH Fund, launched in 2019 with an initial corpus that expanded to Rs 15,530 crore, has already enabled completion of 58,596 homes, with over 1 lakh units expected in total. In Budget 2025–26, SWAMIH Fund 2.0 added another Rs 15,000 crore blended-finance vehicle targeting completion of an additional 1 lakh stalled units.
On the retail finance side, PMAY-Urban 2.0 aims to support 1 crore additional urban homes, while Affordable Housing Finance Companies are projected to grow assets under management by 20–21% in FY26–27, outpacing the broader mortgage sector.
Currently, only 198 Mn sf (~37%) of India’s 520 Mn sf REIT-worthy office stock is listed.
Also read: Why luxury real estate remains a favourite among India’s rich despite macro & rate hike concerns
The country’s REIT penetration remains quite low as compared to the mature markets:
While India’s domestic REIT market continues to mature, CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT) represents an important example of offshore institutional capital participating in Indian real estate. Listed on the Singapore Exchange in 2007, CLINT became Asia’s first India-focused property trust, predating the launch of India’s own REIT ecosystem by over a decade.
“CLINT is strategically positioned across ~15 diverse assets – commercial office, industrial, logistics and data centre, making it one of the earliest institutional platforms to capture India’s shift beyond traditional office real estate. CLINT demonstrates three structural shifts occurring within India’s RE capital markets – global capital confidence, multi-asset diversification, and a practical example for future capital recycling”, said Shobhit Agarwal.
The report identifies data centres, logistics, industrial real estate, and GCC-led office developments as the next major recipients of long-term capital.
These sectors are attracting a different kind of capital – long-term, yield-focused, and globally benchmarked. This is creating a deeper and more resilient financing ecosystem.
