• Industry
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Developers turn selective on land acquisitions; JDAs gain share in 9M 2026: Anarock

Developers closed 76 land transactions spanning about 1,445 acres during the first nine months of 2026, compared with 99 deals covering nearly 3,292 acres in the corresponding period last year. Joint development agreements accounted for 25% of transactions during the period.

The moderation in land buying comes as developers become more selective about parcel size, location and project feasibility amid rising land costs.

Joint development agreements (JDAs) are also gaining a larger share of transactions. Of the 76 deals recorded during 9M 2026, at least 19 were JDAs, accounting for 25% of total transactions. The number of JDA transactions increased from 10 in 2022 to 30 in 2025, while their share of overall deals rose from around 12% to nearly 24% during the period.

Large land transactions decline

The number of transactions involving parcels of 50 acres or more declined to five during 9M 2026 from 12 during the corresponding period of 2025. The combined acreage involved in these large transactions fell to approximately 588 acres from about 2,398 acres.

Between 2022 and 9M 2026, 516 land deals spanning approximately 12,958 acres were recorded across the country.

The highest number of transactions during this period was recorded in 2024, when 133 deals covering more than 2,515 acres were closed. In terms of acreage, 2025 was the largest year, with 126 transactions spanning approximately 3,772 acres.

Metros dominate deal volumes

The seven established real estate markets - Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), National Capital Region (NCR), Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata - accounted for approximately 86% of the 516 transactions recorded between 2022 and 9M 2026.

However, they accounted for only about 57% of the nearly 12,960 acres transacted during the period, indicating that larger land parcels were increasingly being acquired in tier-II and tier-III markets.

Anarock said MMR, NCR and Bengaluru were among the largest markets in terms of cumulative land acquisition, followed by Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. Ahmedabad recorded about 1,460 acres from just 14 transactions, with a handful of large deals accounting for a substantial portion of the city's total acreage.

Large parcels shift towards smaller cities

Of the 516 transactions recorded between 2022 and 9M 2026, 61 involved parcels of 50 acres or more. These deals accounted for approximately 63% of the total acreage transacted. Nearly half of these large transactions - 29 deals - were located outside the seven established metropolitan markets.

Gujarat emerged as a major market for such transactions, with Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara together accounting for approximately 2,020 acres.

Coimbatore accounted for around 770 acres, while Amritsar, Nagpur, Panipat and Ludhiana were also among the markets recording significant cumulative acreage despite having relatively few transactions.

The largest individual transactions during the period included a 714-acre deal in Coimbatore, a 600-acre transaction in Hyderabad and two deals of 500 acres and 440 acres in Ahmedabad.