- Real Estate Regulation Act transformed India's property market with transparency and buyer protections
- 70% of buyer funds must be held in escrow, improving financial discipline in projects
- RERA boosted market trust, accountability, and institutional investor interest
10 Years Of RERA: A decade after the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 came into force, India's property market looks visibly different.
Listings are no longer glossy brochures and verbal promises. They are portal entries with approvals, timelines, layouts and disclosures. Buyer money is no longer freely fungible. As per law, 70 per cent of collections must sit in escrow and be used for that project alone. Complaints that once dragged through courts now move through dedicated authorities.
The landscape has changed. So has behaviour. While RERA couldn't fix everything, it certainly changed the rules of the game.
As per the government, RERA has improved transparency, reduced project delays, and made sure that buyers now check state RERA portals before writing cheques. However, they admit that uneven implementation across states and higher compliance costs have created fresh friction, especially for affordable housing.
What RERA Got Right?
Shekhar G Patel, President, CREDAI, says RERA "altered the balance of power between the developer and the purchaser". Information is now accessible. Processes are accountable. Escrow rules have brought financial discipline. And the sector's credibility has improved even in the eyes of institutional capital.
In a similar vein, Sahil Agarwal, CEO, Nimbus Group, says "Buyers now verify approvals, timelines and disclosures themselves. A decade ago, opacity and delays were common. Today, delivery cycles are more predictable because filings are public and trackable."
Meanwhile, Manoj Goyal, Director, Forteasia Realty, calls RERA "one of the most consumer-friendly steps" in real estate. With over 1.2-1.3 lakh registered projects and nearly 90,000 agents, he says information asymmetry has reduced sharply. Fixed carpet area norms, escrow rules and mandatory registration have made practices like fund diversion and double-selling far harder. Over 1 lakh complaints have already been resolved through formal channels.
Together, these changes did something fundamental: they made due diligence mainstream for buyers.
RERA Act: How NCR Became A Case Study
In the National Capital Region (NCR), developers say the RERA effect is visible on the ground.
Manoj Gaur, CMD, Gaurs Group, says markets like Noida, Greater Noida and the Yamuna Expressway feel more end-user driven and predictable today. With large infrastructure projects like the Noida International Airport shaping the corridor, RERA has ensured developers remain accountable to timelines and commitments.
Amit Modi, Director, County Group, notes that NCR saw about 24 per cent residential price growth year-on-year in 2025, the highest among top cities. Corridors like NH-24 in Ghaziabad and connectivity upgrades such as the RRTS have changed buyer interest. RERA, he says, made this shift sustainable by bringing clearer processes and accountability.
Karan Malik, Regional Director, Realistic Realtors, adds numbers to this shift. In Q1 2026, around 9,677 units were launched in NCR, up 26 per cent year-on-year. Gurugram alone contributed 73 per cent of launches, largely due to Dwarka Expressway. Greater Noida and Noida followed. Infrastructure drove interest, he says. RERA made buyers confident enough to commit to these emerging corridors.
Market Clean-Up & Institutional Interest
Vijay Raundal, Managing Director, Teerth Realties, says RERA helped convert a largely unorganised sector into a more investment-friendly one. Smaller developers who could not cope with compliance either exited or partnered with larger players. The result was market consolidation and better governance.
That governance matters because real estate contributes 7-8 per cent to India's GDP and is expected to grow further. Institutional investors now see project-level accountability and financial discipline they did not see a decade ago.
Quality, he says, is increasingly replacing quantity.
Where RERA Falls Short
But the story is not one-sided. Raundal flags a key issue: higher compliance and approval costs have raised development costs. In some micro-markets, this has led to supply shortages, particularly in affordable housing.
Another problem is inconsistency. RERA is a central law implemented by states. Timelines, capacity, and interpretation vary. While many complaints are resolved quickly, experiences differ across geographies.
Industry executives quietly admit that while top developers adapted, smaller ones struggled. This reduced supply in certain segments and markets. So while buyer protection improved, affordability did not always keep pace.
RERA-Led Behavioural Shift
Perhaps RERA's biggest success is not legal. It is behavioural, say home-buyers and developers. Buyers ask for RERA numbers before site visits. They check approvals online. They understand carpet area definitions. They file complaints when timelines slip. Developers plan cash flows more conservatively because escrow rules leave little room for diversion.
The ecosystem is more structured. More predictable. More compliance-driven. As Patel puts it, due diligence still matters. But the system itself now feels more mature.
Ten years on, RERA has not eliminated delays. It has not made housing cheaper. And it has not been implemented uniformly across India. But it has done three big things:
- Restored trust between buyers and developers
- Brought financial discipline through escrow and disclosures
- Created a formal, data-driven property market
That is no small shift for a sector once known for opacity.
The next decade's challenge is different. Make implementation uniform. Reduce compliance friction without diluting safeguards. And ensure affordable housing does not become collateral damage of good regulation.
