India Real Estate Transparency Faces City Level Gaps
India has made one of the sharpest improvements in real estate transparency globally, with cross-border property investment reaching a reported 20-year high of $8.1 billion. The shift is strengthening market visibility and investor confidence, but gaps in land records, planning, contract enforcement and building-level data could limit how evenly the benefits reach cities and property users.
The findings come from the 2026 Global Real Estate Transparency Index, which assesses 88 countries and territories and 146 city markets using 260 measures. India moved into the global top 30, ranking 26th, after standing at 31st in the previous edition. It was the strongest improver in Asia-Pacific, while Vietnam, South Korea, Australia and Thailand also recorded significant gains.The improvement matters beyond property transactions. Better access to market information can make pricing, investment decisions and site selection more predictable. It can also help cities manage development pressures as commercial property, logistics, data centres and other infrastructure-intensive sectors expand.
Yet the progress remains concentrated. The index points to continuing weaknesses in land pooling, implementation of master plans and enforcement of contracts. For urban authorities, these are not simply administrative issues. Unclear land assembly and delayed planning decisions can affect housing supply, infrastructure delivery and the timing of development across growing metropolitan regions. Data quality is another divide. Major gateway cities have moved further towards digitised transactions and technology-enabled property management, while secondary markets often lack comparable information. Practices such as digital documentation, transaction data rooms and technology-based financial analysis remain less widespread outside the leading markets.The transparency gap also has an environmental dimension. Property-level information on energy consumption, climate risks and building performance is still uneven. As extreme heat, flooding and power constraints increasingly affect development costs, reliable building and infrastructure data will become more relevant to both investors and city authorities. JLL’s index identifies energy performance tracking and building efficiency standards among the areas gaining importance globally.
Digital mapping presents another opportunity. Wider use of geographic information systems and drone-based mapping could give planning agencies more consistent information on land use, infrastructure and urban change. But extending these tools beyond pilot projects will require stronger public data systems and coordination between agencies.India’s gains therefore mark progress, rather than completion. The next stage of real estate transparency will depend on whether better regulation, digital records and climate-related disclosures become routine across cities and asset types. For real estate transparency to translate into more resilient urban growth, improvements must increasingly reach the places where citizens experience development directly through clearer planning, better information and more accountable building performance.
