Overview
- Anarock data show that in Jan–Sep 2026 developers completed 76 land deals covering about 1,445 acres, a fall of 56% in acreage from the same period a year earlier.
- Joint development agreements made up roughly one in four deals in the period, with at least 19 of the 76 transactions structured as JDAs, a model where developers partner with landowners instead of buying land outright.
- Transactions of 50 acres or more dropped sharply from 12 in the first nine months of 2025 to five in the same period of 2026, and combined acreage for such large parcels fell from about 2,398 acres to roughly 588 acres.
- Although established metros still account for most deals by count, large-acreage activity is increasingly concentrated in tier‑2 and tier‑3 markets such as Gujarat and parts of the south, and a few very large parcels (for example, deals of about 714 acres in Coimbatore and 600 acres in Hyderabad) materially skew regional totals.
- The trend marks a move away from broad land‑banking toward selective, partnership-led acquisitions focused on connectivity and project viability, a shift that may reduce upfront capital outlay for builders, boost development in smaller cities, and slow the pace of new large-scale greenfield projects.