By buld_online 
Agra is no longer just a tourist hotspot — it’s India’s most explosive real estate market outside the metros, posting a jaw-dropping 94% price surge in just four years.
According to PropEquity’s latest analysis of 30 Tier 2 cities, Agra topped the list for residential property returns between 2020 and 2024, beating out traditionally stronger markets like Goa and Ludhiana. Investment manager Sarthak Ahuja spotlighted the findings, calling attention to how non-metros are quietly outpacing the country’s biggest urban centers in real estate appreciation.
Goa followed closely behind with a 90% jump, while Ludhiana clocked 89%. Indore (72%), Chandigarh-Mohali (70%), and Dehradun (68%) rounded out the top five, signaling a strong investor shift toward cities once overlooked by large institutional buyers.
“These are no longer satellite cities,” Ahuja noted, “they’re outperformers — and people are starting to wake up to that.”
Trivandrum, Mangalore, Bhubaneshwar, and Ahmedabad also made the top 10, all recording price gains north of 54%. Cities like Mysore, Bhopal, and Nagpur followed, with respectable growth in the 50% range.
The boom isn’t random. PropEquity’s July 2024 report attributes the spike to a mix of rapid infrastructure development, rising affordability pressures in metros, and government-backed urban renewal schemes. The result: smaller cities are turning into serious wealth engines for early investors.
While sales volume in these cities grew moderately, the real story is price acceleration — with a 20% spike in sales value in 2024 alone.
“Most people still think of Agra as a monument city,” Ahuja said. “But in terms of return on real estate, it just buried the metros.”