India has emerged as Asia-Pacific’s highest-yielding real estate market across office, retail, logistics, hotel and student housing assets, reinforcing the country’s growing appeal among global institutional investors.
According to CBRE’s Q1 2026 Asia Pacific Cap Rate Survey, India recorded the highest cap rates across all major property segments in the region during the quarter. At the same time, commercial real estate investment volumes in the country surged 189% year-on-year — the second-highest growth rate in APAC after Singapore’s 364% expansion.
India’s Grade A office cap rates in core business districts stood at 7.5-8.4% across Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bengaluru, substantially higher than Singapore’s 3.25-3.8%, Tokyo’s 2-3% and Seoul’s 3.75-4.65%. The country was also ranked among the top three preferred destinations for Grade A office investment enquiries in Asia-Pacific alongside Singapore and Japan.
“We are seeing genuine, broad-based demand across sectors driven by India’s strong economic fundamentals, rapid urbanisation, expanding corporate occupier base and rising domestic consumption. Investors are no longer looking at India only as a high-growth market, but increasingly as a market offering depth, liquidity and scalable institutional opportunities,” said Anshuman Magazine, chairman and CEO, India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE.
“Global capital that was earlier cautious is now actively evaluating deployment across offices, logistics, retail and alternative assets. With more institutional-grade supply entering the market and REITs, structured debt and domestic capital becoming more sophisticated, India’s real estate ecosystem is maturing far beyond a traditional equity-led story,” he added.
India’s logistics assets continued to offer some of the widest return spreads in the region. Institutional-grade logistics cap rates stood at 7.15-7.75%, compared with 6-7% in Vietnam, the second-highest yielding market.
Retail and hospitality assets also remained elevated. Prime shopping mall cap rates in India ranged between 7.15% and 7.75%, while urban hotel assets delivered yields of 6.35-7.05%.
Alternative assets are increasingly drawing investor interest. Student housing yields in India stood at 8.5-9%, around 320 basis points higher than Australia, the next-best market in the segment.
CBRE also highlighted rising interest in Indian real estate debt opportunities as AIFs, non-bank lenders and structured credit platforms deepen the country’s property financing ecosystem.
Ada Choi, head of APAC research at CBRE, said India’s yield advantage is being supported by strong tenant demand and rental growth, even as geopolitical tensions and slower economic growth weigh on investor sentiment in several other Asian markets.