Inside Gurugram's real estate boom: How traders are flipping the game

Gurugram's housing market is being reshaped by fast-trading buyers, not end-users, distorting prices and sparking new worries over affordability and risk

Gurugram’s housing market is being driven less by families looking for homes and more by traders, who place early bets on price jumps and exit before the dust settles.

 

This otherwise well-known trend within real estate circles took on renewed public interest after a video went viral, wherein real estate commentator Vishal Bhargava described Gurugram’s market as “a gripping movie with a bad ending”.

 

He explained that unlike Mumbai or Bangalore, where most buyers are either end-users or investors, Gurugram’s ecosystem gives centre stage to traders, people who buy units during launch and sell them off quickly, often before making the next payment.

  

Why builders prefer traders over investors

 

“Builders love traders,” Bhargava said. “They offer three incentives. First, a small down payment that traders can afford. Second, a payment plan where the next instalment is due one to two years later. Third, they allow the unit to be resold before the next payment is due under a scheme called ‘first transfer free