Summary of this article
Bengaluru housing sales rose 19% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2026.
Metro connectivity and employment hubs are shaping buyer preferences.
Premium homes dominated Bengaluru’s new housing launches.
Bengaluru’s residential market has changed drastically over the past few years. The city’s growth is also changing in terms of what buyers are looking for and what they are looking to buy as their home or investment. According to JLL’s Q1 2026 Bengaluru residential market report, more than 18,000 homes were sold in the city during this quarter, while residential sales have risen by 19 per cent on a quarter-to-quarter basis.
One can attribute these to growth cycles in Bengaluru’s strong and ever-growing IT sector. This expansion is also dictated by the metro network and the growing buyer network of larger and higher-quality homes. For aspirational buyers, the data points towards a market where location is defined by access to employment hubs and public transport. As per the JLL report, buyers have a sustained focus on locations near metro-connected technological hubs.
“Choosing where to live in Bengaluru was straightforward earlier — you picked a spot near the old city centre or one of the big public-sector factories. The IT boom threw that logic out. Once global technology companies began setting up here, the city stopped growing outward in one piece and instead broke into a series of independent business districts. Villages and farmland that nobody had looked at twice turned into thriving commercial hubs almost overnight. The lesson for early homebuyers was immediate: infrastructure follows jobs, and it follows fast. Localities once considered “too far out” became the centre of everything within a few years. Recognising that pattern early is exactly why we committed to growth corridors such as East Bengaluru and the Sarjapur belt before they turned into the crowded real-estate hotspots they are today,” says N. Nagabushana Reddy, CEO, Founder & Managing Director, NBR Group.
These changes also influence what kind of construction buyers are opting for. Bengaluru witnessed a record of quarterly launches with 27,000 new units being released in the city in Q1 2026 alone. This number is double that of Q1 of 2025. Another highlight in these numbers is the large share of the new supply being mainly in premium and high-end segments. Homes which are priced above Rs 1.5 crore accounted for 69 per cent of the total launches in this quarter. This trend reflects the change in the buyer profile of Bengaluru homeowners. Developers are increasingly focusing on larger homes with better amenities. For aspirational buyers, this means that the choice is available in the market is increasingly tied to higher-value homes.
What should buyers seek?
Bengaluru is a dense and heavily concentrated market that only grows more intense every year. The city continues to attract professionals and tech companies, which increasingly focus on larger homes with better amenities. For buyers, this means an endless opportunity for homebuying, yet no all-around fix.
“If you're buying a home in Bengaluru today, the biggest lesson from five decades of watching this city change is to think in terms of legacy, not just a transaction. Don't get swept up in the temporary hype around a “hot” new neighbourhood. Ask yourself how that area will look, breathe and feel twenty years from now. Choose spaces that respect the land, value transparency, and are designed around how people actually live. That, to me, is how we keep the real spirit of Bengaluru alive,” suggests Reddy.
