Bengaluru’s startup founders and IT professionals accelerated their shift from stocks and gold into real estate when apartment and plot prices corrected in select micro-markets, opening a rare buying window in an otherwise expensive city. Lower ticket sizes, builder discounts and pandemic-driven lifestyle changes pushed many of them to close deals in 2023, especially in emerging corridors where prices had briefly softened before the next upswing.​

Background and timing

• The phase of lower-effective prices followed the initial pandemic disruptions, when unsold inventory, work-from-home and muted launches created room for negotiation in parts of Bengaluru’s apartment and plotted housing market.​
• For tech workers used to high rents in hubs like Whitefield, Bellandur and Sarjapur Road, even a modest correction or stamp-duty rebate was enough to tilt the rent-versus-buy equation towards ownership.​

Why techies and founders bought

• Many mid- to senior-level IT employees, flush with savings from reduced discretionary spending and stock-option gains, viewed real estate as a safer, less volatile store of value than equity markets or crypto.​
• Startup founders and entrepreneurs, especially those with recent exits or funding rounds, looked at discounted or stagnating prices in fringe locations as an opportunity to lock in villas, gated-community plots or larger apartments ahead of the next demand cycle.​

Impact of falling / corrected prices

• Developers facing slower sales in certain projects were more open to negotiations, flexible payment plans and bundled offers, effectively bringing down the all-in acquisition cost for serious buyers.​
• In corridors where oversupply or delayed launches had built inventory—on the outskirts of North Bengaluru and along some stretches of the Outer Ring Road—select deals emerged that undercut peak-asking prices from the pre-pandemic period.​

Preferred locations and product types

• Techies largely targeted mid- to upper-mid segment apartments close to employment hubs, trying to balance budget with commute, while some with higher budgets shifted to larger 3BHKs or compact villas in North Bengaluru and emerging east/south-east corridors.​
• Entrepreneurs and senior executives showed greater appetite for plotted developments and low-density gated communities, betting on long-term capital appreciation driven by airport expansion, new tech parks and infrastructure upgrades.​

Risks and evolving sentiment

• Even as a section of buyers capitalised on lower prices, others within the tech ecosystem remained cautious due to global slowdown concerns, layoffs and fears of over-leverage, choosing to wait for a deeper correction.​

  property rates fall, real estate investment