US-Iran War Puts 5.4 Lakh Homes at Risk

A record 5.4 lakh housing units are expected to be completed in India’s top seven cities in 2026, making it the greatest year for residential deliveries in a decade. However, if the US-Iran war continues, this extraordinary pipeline may face headwinds, with rising energy costs, supply-chain interruptions, and higher construction input prices creating execution bottlenecks and increasing the likelihood of project delivery delays, according to an Anarock assessment.

It stated that the western markets of MMR and Pune alone account for 57% of the homes scheduled for completion, with a substantial part consisting of projects started between 2021 and 2023 that are now in the final phases of construction.

A prolonged geopolitical crisis has the potential to raise energy and freight costs, disrupt supply chains, and inflate the prices of critical construction materials such as steel, aluminum, copper, electrical equipment, and building systems. According to the report, these cost constraints may have an impact on project feasibility, reduce developer profits, and complicate execution schedules.

With construction activity rising as numerous projects near completion, developers are especially vulnerable to supply-chain interruptions and input-cost instability. While the present completion pipeline is generally on pace, a lengthy disagreement might create execution bottlenecks and increase the likelihood of project delays, it warned.

According to the analysis, a prolonged Middle East war is projected to put house delivery deadlines to the test in 2026, with disrupted supply chains and escalating costs. In the pandemic-hit year of 2020, as many as 2.14 lakh homes (46% share) were delivered against a planned pipeline of 4.66 lakh units, demonstrating the impact of substantial disruptions, according to the research.

Will MMR, Pune, and Bangalore be struck the hardest?

According to the analysis, Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru account for 70% of homes scheduled to be completed by 2026 and may encounter the most significant execution issues. NCR, a prominent real estate company, plans to complete only 39,000 housing units this year.

According to the estimate, nearly 5.19 lakh units were delivered in the top seven cities in 2025.

“According to the most recent ANAROCK Research statistics, a record 5,40,400 housing units are slated to be completed across the top seven cities in 2026, the biggest number in the last decade. According to Prashant Thakur, Executive Director and Head of Research and Advisory at ANAROCK Group, the western markets of MMR and Pune account for 57% of all scheduled deliveries this year.

Worst crisis since Covid?

“Historically, ambitious home supply pipelines have frequently been vulnerable to external shocks such as these. For example, ANAROCK Research indicates that roughly 4.66 lakh residences were expected for completion in the top seven cities during the epidemic year of 2020. However, only roughly 2.14 lakh units, or 46% of the intended pipeline, were eventually delivered, as building came to a standstill owing to lockdowns, labor migration, and supply-chain disruptions.”

According to the paper, the disparity between anticipated and actual completions demonstrates that even projects in advanced phases of construction can experience delays when faced with large-scale disturbances. Unlike during the pandemic, construction activity and labor availability are constant.However, a prolonged geopolitical conflict will definitely have an influence on project economics, resulting in higher energy prices, increased logistics costs, and inflation in critical construction materials including steel, aluminum, copper, electrical equipment, and building systems, according to the paper.

2021-23 house launches are nearing completion, establishing a record delivery pipeline; focus on execution.

Between 2017 and 2025, Anarock Research estimates that about 30.5 lakh housing units were delivered in India’s top seven cities. With nearly 5.40 lakh units scheduled for delivery this year, 2026 will be the largest delivery year in the past decade, if all deliveries are completed on time. Residential projects built between 2021 and 2023 are currently nearing the final stages of construction, resulting in an exceptional completion pipeline throughout the country’s top housing markets. The current West Asia war has put this pipeline under actual threat of derailment,” according to the report.