Have you heard the mind-boggling real-estate news from Gurugram? A penthouse in DLF Camellias, according to media reports, was apparently sold for Rs 190 crore (US$22.4 million). But that’s not the most surprising part. What shook the internet was the per-square-foot price—Rs 180,000. 

That’s… steep.

When I first came across it, I immediately forwarded the news article to some of my friends who are planning to buy flats. Just to give them a taste of the madness out there. 

But they pulled off a UNO reverse.

Because they told me something else about India’s real-estate space that was even more intriguing. An increasingly common dark pattern in home loans that I’ve since confirmed with two bankers and two insurance industry executives. 

Let me explain how this plays out in practice through the experience of one of my friends, Debayan. He requested that I withhold his last name to protect his identity.

Debayan is a lawyer-turned-journalist who has been looking to buy a flat in Noida for the past few months. He finally zeroed in on a house in November. Small rooms. Smaller balconies. Located in a housing society that boasts a lavish clubhouse and a swimming pool that he’ll probably never use. A typical buy for most Noida residents.

The flat’s final price was negotiated down to around Rs 1.2 crore. Debayan had sold off some old property and had some savings, and the remaining was to be financed via a home loan. The total loan amount came to approximately Rs 32 lakh, which he wanted to pay back over a 30-year tenure.

Debayan initially went to HDFC Bank for a home loan, but after comparing interest rates, he settled for Bank of Baroda (BoB), which offered him an interest rate of 8.35%. 

The trouble, and the thing we are interested in, reared its head when he initiated a conversation with the bank’s agent about his monthly instalments. 

According to Debayan’s calculations, and one corroborated by multiple online EMI calculators, he should have been paying about Rs 24,000 each month. But his agent said his monthly payable would be a whole 30% more expensive—Rs 31,000. 

When Debayan told me his story, I felt like I’d heard it before.