GRETI 2026 has placed India’s real estate market at 26th globally, marking a five-place improvement in JLL’s Global Real Estate Transparency Index. India’s Tier 1 cities moved up from 31st position, making the country one of the five most-improved markets globally and the top improver in the Asia-Pacific region.
Key Highlights
- India’s real estate market climbed five places to 26th globally in GRETI 2026, entering the Transparent tier.
- Regulatory reforms, digitised land records and stronger sustainability disclosures supported India’s improved real estate transparency ranking.
India Enters the Top 30 in GRETI 2026
The improvement has moved India into the middle of JLL’s “Transparent” tier. The Global Real Estate Transparency Index evaluates 88 countries and 146 city markets on a scale of one to five, using 260 factors covering the availability, quality and reliability of real estate market data and information.
JLL said India’s progress in transparency has been supported by stronger regulation, digitised land records, deeper REIT markets and increasing sustainability disclosures. Over the past decade, India’s progress in real estate transparency has ranked fourth globally, while its 20-year improvement ranks third globally.
Regulatory and Legal Transparency Shows Strongest Improvement
The regulatory and legal parameter recorded India’s strongest improvement. The country improved its ranking from 37th to 19th in the global ranking and 9th place to 6th in the Asia Pacific region.
JLL attributed the improvement to the development of Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) liberalisation and digitised land registries. These include initiatives such as the National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM), NAKSHA and the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP).
India retained its rank of 10th in the world and 3rd in Asia-Pacific in the transaction-process parameter. It also had a slight rise in its listed-market ranking from 36th to 35th.
Real Estate Investment Rises Alongside Transparency
India’s improved transparency has coincided with stronger investment activity in the real estate sector. Private equity investments reached $10.5 billion in 2025, increasing 17% year-on-year, while investment stood at $4.3 billion in the first half of 2026, up 25% year-on-year.
JLL also highlighted the expansion of India’s office REIT market. REIT stock increased 58%, from 104 million square feet in 2024 to 164 million square feet in 2026. Nearly half of the country’s Grade A office stock is now considered REIT-worthy, according to JLL. The consultancy also pointed to a data centre pipeline expected to require $110 billion in capital by 2029.
Also Read: REIT Penetration in Office Market can Reach 25-30% by 2030: Colliers India
Sustainability Transparency Also Improves
India’s sustainability ranking improved to 27th globally from 29th, while its Asia-Pacific position remained unchanged at seventh. JLL attributed the improvement partly to SEBI’s Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) framework and the launch of the National Green Building Mission in 2025.
Green-certified Grade A office stock increased substantially, rising from around 39% in 2020 to 66% in the first half of 2026. JLL said certified buildings command a 10–15% rental premium over non-certified properties after adjustments for property type, location and age cohort.
What Gaps Remain in India’s Real Estate Market?
Despite the improvement in India's real estate sector, JLL identified several areas where transparency can be strengthened. These include moving from voluntary to mandatory Scope 3 reporting, improving building-performance regulation and reporting, and expanding public disclosure of property-level energy consumption.
The report also highlighted gaps in climate-risk reporting, resilience planning, and nature and biodiversity risk disclosures. JLL said the next phase of progress could involve deeper disclosures across asset classes, stronger credit-market intelligence, verified real-time building-performance data and the use of artificial intelligence for due diligence and fragmented data analysis.
