India’s residential real estate market has transitioned from a post-pandemic rebound into a phase of structurally supported growth, characterised by steady absorption, improving balance-sheet health, and increasing end-user participation. Despite global macroeconomic headwinds, domestic housing demand has remained resilient, supported by income expansion, favourable demographics, and a clear shift toward quality-led home ownership.
According to Cushman & Wakefield’s India Outlook 2025–26, the current residential cycle is being driven by premiumisation, rising ticket sizes, and renewed participation from high-income and NRI buyers, trends expected to persist through 2026. Notably, demand is increasingly infrastructure-sensitive rather than location-centric, marking a departure from earlier cycles. Within this context, Delhi NCR has emerged as a leading indicator market, demonstrating how infrastructure depth materially influences residential demand, pricing stability, and supply absorption.
Delhi NCR at the Forefront of the Growth Cycle
Recent supply metrics underline NCR’s leadership in India’s housing market. According to Cushman & Wakefield, the region recorded 14,248 residential unit launches in Q4 2025, a 39 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase and a 2.5 times year-on-year rise.
Importantly, this expansion is further divided into micro-markets: Gurugram accounted for roughly 50 per cent of these launches, while Noida and Ghaziabad contributed about 45 per cent, reflecting balanced regional growth rather than single-node dependence. This pattern underscores NCR’s evolution into a multi-nodal urban region, where residential demand is driven by connectivity and integrated infrastructure rather than mere proximity to Delhi.
Infrastructure as the Core Growth Catalyst
Residential demand in NCR is increasingly infrastructure-driven. While access to Delhi remains relevant, buyers today prioritise commute predictability, network connectivity, and long-term livability, outcomes that are a function of infrastructure depth rather than linear distance from the city centre.
According to Cushman & Wakefield study, residential momentum in 2026 will remain supported by stable end-user demand, rising household incomes, and developers’ confidence in upper mid and high-end projects. Continued urbanisation, combined with sustained public investment in transport and economic infrastructure, is expected to drive supply, with new launches projected to exceed 3,00,000 units nationally, underscoring confidence in the durability of the current cycle. (https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/india/insights/india-outlook)
Understanding Infrastructure Depth
Infrastructure depth extends well beyond individual projects. It reflects the degree to which multiple systems operate cohesively to support daily life and economic productivity. In NCR, this depth is visible across four interlinked layers: mobility infrastructure like metro networks, rapid rail corridors, and expressways that enable time-efficient commutes; economic infrastructure including airports, business districts, and logistics hubs that anchor employment creation; social infrastructure encompassing education, healthcare, retail, and recreational amenities; and, critically, execution reliability, which determines whether infrastructure investment translates into tangible livability outcomes.
The Connectivity Pipeline Reshaping NCR
NCR is undergoing a connectivity-led transformation, with large infrastructure projects enhancing the region’s structural advantage. Rapid transit is expanding: the Delhi–Ghaziabad–Meerut RRTS corridor has already improved access across eastern NCR, driving property value appreciation and encouraging transit-oriented growth along its alignment, with land and housing prices rising significantly near key stations in Ghaziabad and Meerut.
The Delhi Metro Phase IV expansion is simultaneously extending metro reach into emerging residential and commercial nodes across the region, with multiple new corridors and station additions set to be operational by 2026, enhancing last-mile connectivity and reducing travel times.
Furthermore, the approval for strengthened road connectivity through expressway integration marks a significant infrastructure milestone. The proposed 30-km expressway connecting Delhi to Noida International Airport (Jewar) via Noida is expected to further ease congestion on existing corridors while providing seamless, direct access to the airport region. Additionally, this enhanced connectivity is poised to stimulate broader economic activity and reinforce the area’s growth potential.
The Noida International Airport is poised to emerge as a transformative catalyst for the entire corridor. With an allocation of ₹750 crore and operations scheduled to begin later this month at an initial capacity of 12 million passengers annually, the project’s influence is expected to extend well beyond decongesting Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Importantly, this development is not merely a short-term market stimulus, but the foundation of a multi-decade growth cycle that is set to redefine residential demand dynamics across the region.
How Infrastructure Depth Is Reshaping Housing Demand
The mid-segment continues to dominate supply, accounting for roughly 52 per cent of overall launches and expected to maintain its position in 2026. With 125 basis points of policy rate cuts delivered by the Reserve Bank of India in 2025, mid-segment homebuyers are expected to return more actively.
As infrastructure depth improves, residential formats are also evolving. Buyers are demonstrating clear preference for spacious layouts, wellness-oriented features, and integrated living environments—choices that align with longer holding periods and end-user intent.
A Growth Story Built to Sustain
Looking ahead, the outlook for NCR’s residential market remains constructive. The region’s residential growth appears increasingly structural. Supported by infrastructure depth, diversified demand across segments, and a strong pipeline of connectivity projects, the region is moving beyond the old logic of ‘near Delhi equals value’. In today’s market, the new definition of location is infrastructure depth and NCR is demonstrating how that advantage translates into sustained residential demand.
