Where NRIs are buying, city by city

How the seven cities compare

Most city comparisons stop at the price per square foot, which is the least useful number for a non-resident buyer. What decides whether a purchase works is the relationship between price and rent, the duty you hand over on day one, and how long you have to hold before owning beats renting. Here are all seven on one consistent set of assumptions.

City	State	Indicative price	Gross yield	Duty + registration	Buying overtakes renting
Rajkot	Gujarat	₹4,000 to 6,500 / sq.ft	3.3%	5.9%	~3 years
Vadodara	Gujarat	₹4,500 to 7,500 / sq.ft	3.3%	5.9%	~3 years
Gandhinagar	Gujarat	₹5,000 to 8,500 / sq.ft	3.5%	5.9%	~3 years
Surat	Gujarat	₹5,500 to 9,500 / sq.ft	3.5%	5.9%	~3 years
Ahmedabad	Gujarat	₹6,000 to 11,000 / sq.ft	3.4%	5.9%	~3 years
Kochi	Kerala	₹4,000 to 10,000 / sq.ft	3.3%	10%	~5 years
Trivandrum	Kerala	₹5,000 to 12,000 / sq.ft	3.2%	10%	~5 years

Price bands are indicative ranges for mid-market residential stock in the popular localities of each city, not a valuation of any specific property. Gross yield and the break-even year come from a mid-market 2BHK example per city, run through our rent vs buy calculator on one shared set of assumptions, and duty is the standard rate for a male or joint buyer. Verified August 2026. Reproduce any row by entering its price and rent into the calculator.

Gujarat or Kerala: the difference that lands on day one

The single largest gap in that table is not the price. It is the transfer cost. Gujarat charges 4.9% stamp duty plus a 1% registration fee, so about 5.9% all in. Kerala charges 8% plus 2%, a flat 10%. On an ₹80 lakh flat that is roughly ₹4.7 lakh in Gujarat against ₹8 lakh in Kerala, a difference of about ₹3.3 lakh paid before you own anything at all.

That one line is why the Kerala cities break even around five years while the Gujarat cities cluster near three, despite similar yields. It is not a reason to avoid Kerala. Kochi and Trivandrum sit in the deepest NRI remittance corridor in the country, which supports both tenant demand and resale in a way that Gujarat's tier-2 cities cannot always match. It does mean Kerala rewards a longer hold, and punishes a buyer who might need to sell inside three years. Our stamp duty calculator gives the exact figure for either state, including Gujarat's reduced 3.9% rate for a woman buying in her sole name.

How to choose a city as an NRI buyer

Three questions settle it faster than any amount of price research.

Is this for income or for later? If the flat has to pay for itself, the ratio of rent to price matters more than the address. Rajkot and Vadodara reach break-even just as quickly as pricier Ahmedabad, because what drives the year is the rent-to-price ratio, not the absolute price. A smaller cheque in an established rental belt beats a larger one in a premium tower that rents for proportionally less.

How easily do you need to get out? Resale liquidity is thinnest exactly where the marketing is loudest. Ahmedabad and Surat have the deepest local buyer pools of the seven, so a resale does not depend on finding another non-resident. Newer peripheral projects in any of these cities can take far longer to move than the brochure suggests.

Does your family already live there? This sounds unquantifiable and it is the most decisive factor in practice. A relative twenty minutes from the property, who can meet the tenant, chase the society and spot a problem before it becomes expensive, is worth more than half a percent of yield. Remote ownership is workable, and our guide to verifying a property from abroad covers how, but proximity to someone you trust changes the difficulty of everything that follows the purchase.

One disclosure worth repeating: Gujarat is our home ground and we write about it from direct familiarity. Kochi and Trivandrum are researched to the same standard from public data, official sources and the state's own portals, but without that on-the-ground layer. Weigh the Kerala pages accordingly, and verify locally before you commit.

Every figure here is illustrative and for orientation only, not a valuation, an offer or financial advice. Prices, rents and state duty rates change. Confirm current figures locally and take professional advice before you commit money.