Half of NRIs aim to invest in Indian realty

Nearly half of non-resident Indians (NRIs) plan to buy property in India for investment purposes, according to a survey released by Sumansa Exhibitions.

Conducted amongst 15,000 NRIs across the UAE, the survey revealed that Mumbai and Delhi grabbed the top spots as the extremely viable options for property investments since the cities continued to be the most robust real estate markets in the country.

Pune, Gurgaon and Noida have emerged as hotspots for investments making it to the top five list of favourable cities. The study further indicates that NRI’s are not necessarily looking at their hometowns for investments.

Sunil Jaiswal, CEO of Sumansa Exhibitions, organisers of Indian Property Show, said: “The survey result is not surprising as Mumbai and Delhi are the most promising markets as far as RoI (return on investment) and net profitability is concerned. Both these cities enjoy commercial prominence, location advantage and increasing wealth, as such the growth momentum either has continued or is stable even if the world markets have experienced economic crisis. Factoring all the advantages these cities have, the scene will not change in near future. NRI does still consider that investing in these cities will be profitable. Pune, Gurgaon and Noida are in the top 5 as they enjoy the advantage of being in close proximity of the main cities.”

Honey Katiyal, CEO, Investors Clinic, India’s leading real estate consultancy, said: “NRIs are choosing other cities apart from their hometowns and especially Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Gurgaon and Noida, which reflects the sentiments that the investors are looking for good investment options for increasing their wealth. These cities are favourable as investors can make good profit as the real estate prices in past few years have spiraled enormously and will witness upward trend in future, barring 10-15 per cent correction in some parts of these cities, plus the cities give good rental income. Home loans and other facilities from Banks & Builders can also be availed quickly, all this makes them good options for investment. We as one of the India’s largest real estate management consultancies have seen this trend and expect the same to continue in foreseeable future”.

Katiyal said NRIs stand to gain from the sharp slide in rupee over last two weeks. The rupee has depreciated more than 16 per cent against the US dollar since July 2011. This has made homes in India increasingly cheaper in dollar price terms, an attractive proportion specially at a time the real estate sector in the developed markets remain depressed. Little wonder then, NRI’s have been looking at the homes back home with renewed interest.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.