IIM Bangalore and Square Yards partner to build a data-driven Property Price Index for India

IIM Bangalore and Square Yards partner to build a data-driven Property Price Index for IndiaMulti-year collaboration to develop a transparent, research-led benchmark for India’s residential property market

16 July, 2026, Bengaluru: Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), through its Real Estate Research Initiative (RERI), and Square Yards, one of India’s largest integrated proptech platforms, announced a multi-year collaboration to develop and publish a robust, methodologically sound property price index for India.The partnership brings together two complementary strengths: Square Yards’ deep, transaction-level view of the Indian real estate market and IIMB’s independent academic expertise in finance and real estate research. Together, the parties intend to build an index that tracks how residential property prices move across the country over time — giving homebuyers, investors, lenders, policymakers and researchers a credible, transparent reference point in a market long characterised by fragmented and inconsistent pricing information.

Turning data into a public good

A reliable house price index depends on the breadth, depth and quality of the underlying data. Square Yards will contribute anonymised and aggregated data drawn from across its data intelligence ecosystem, including 150mn+ property registration data and government guidance values (circle rates), RERA data, primary transaction records from its platform, and residential listings. This data will be shared on a periodic basis for the purpose of building and maintaining the index and supporting related academic research.

Under the collaboration, IIMB will lead the design of the index methodology and the underlying scientific model, and will retain full academic freedom and publication rights over the research it conducts. The index itself will be jointly developed, combining Square Yards’ data with IIMB’s peer-reviewed statistical approach — a structure intended to keep the benchmark both data-rich and academically independent.

Prof. Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Chairperson, Real Estate Research Initiative (RERI) and faculty of Finance & Accounting at IIM Bangalore, said, “Indian housing markets have historically lacked the transparent, high-frequency price benchmarks that mature markets take for granted. The value of this collaboration lies in combining the scale and granularity of Square Yards’ data with a rigorous, transparent and independently developed methodology. Our aim is to create an index that stands up to academic scrutiny and genuinely informs how households, institutions and policymakers understand the direction of property prices in India”.

Tanuj Shori, Founder & CEO, Square Yards, said,“For over a decade, we have been building one of the most comprehensive real estate data ecosystems in India — spanning registrations, transactions, listings and government benchmarks across the country. We have always believed this data can serve a purpose far larger than our own business. Partnering with IIM Bangalore allows us to put that data intelligence to work for the entire market. A credible, independent property price index is exactly the kind of public infrastructure Indian real estate has needed, and we are proud to help build it”.

A benchmark built for transparency and trust

The index is designed to be a shared reference for the market rather than a proprietary product. IIMB will publish research and findings developed using the data, with Square Yards duly acknowledged as the data provider. Both organisations will be able to use the jointly developed index in their respective research, reporting and business activities, supporting wider adoption across the ecosystem. The collaboration reflects a broader shared ambition to bring greater transparency, standardisation and evidence-based decision-making to one of India’s largest and most consequential asset classes.