'₹2.5 crore for 3BHK on Bengaluru’s edge': Viral post warns NRIs to stop feeding India’s real estate 'greed'

In India’s scorching real estate market, homeownership is slipping further out of reach. From Mumbai’s gleaming high-rises to the far-flung outskirts of Bengaluru, prices are ballooning — fuelled by swelling demand, rising construction costs, and shrinking supply. Luxury projects are mushrooming while affordability is fast eroding, leaving middle-class buyers scrambling. A growing number of citizens are now questioning the sustainability — and ethics — of this real estate boom.

A recent Reddit post stirred discussion around the soaring property costs, especially targeting Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), often seen as prime buyers in the market.

“To all the NRIs, please hold off buying apartments in Indian big cities for a while. I was checking the cost of apartments in Bangalore and Hyderabad. I was surprised to notice that cost of 3 bhk is around 2-2.5 crores in outer parts of the city (city border). Then, I checked the cost in cities like London and Newyork and found them to be the same cost. These guys are getting extremely greedy. They are expecting NRIs to buy these. So, please do not buy without negotiating it downwards. Invest your money in stocks,” the user wrote.

The sentiment struck a chord with several others, who chimed in with similar concerns about inflated valuations and eroding infrastructure.

“I'm not rich but I wanted to buy one small plot in Bengaluru, but looking at the prices and crumbling infrastructure, I held back. Yesterday I saw they have uprooted all the century old trees which are as wide as 10m all along the road to expand it. This was the last paradise of greenery road in the outer limits of Bengaluru. The greed knows no limits,” one person shared.

“I was planning to buy one, so I decided to go for one in Dubai. Still WIP. Indian real estate is super bloated and it's a corrupt money sink,” said another.

A third user pointed to poor returns on investments in metros. “Best decision I’ve taken in past 5 years is not to invest on Bangalore real estate. All my partners who invested have net lost money or barely broke even on any property bought post 21 added inflation. I invested the same on a land development in tier 2 city outskirts and made 5x on my investment. Unless there’s 20-30% correction on current price it’s safer to stay outside. There’s a lot of dead inventory on the outskirts.”

Others highlighted how international comparisons don’t tell the full story. “London, New York city prices have also shot up after covid. They are definitely higher than Bangalore/Mumbai/Gurgaon. But your main point is valid. People are buying like crazy. Because Trump is targeting visa holders, more NRIs are going to prefer buying in India rather than in USA. I'm afraid your well-intentioned advice will be largely ignored.”

Still, the belief that real estate prices will never truly fall seems deeply entrenched. “In last 40 years, property prices almost never came down. if they came down for sometime, it was 10% or stagnant for few years. that is the unfortunate reality all due to our growing population and economy. Prices are not justified but there are people who are ready to pay and hence price will never come down.”