Although investors are eyeing commercial properties and warehousing, the inherent demand for housing in India is beyond question.
Category: Real Estate Investment
- Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Nashik & Kochi top favourite among Tier 2 & 3 destinations
- Bangalore 2nd-most preferred investment destination with 21% votes in favour, followed by Pune with 18%
- For over 30% NRIs, Bangalore is the hot favourite investment hub
- Low property prices coupled with improved infrastructure facilities in Tier 2 & 3 cities the primary investment magnets
Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants
The quintessential Indian’s yen for investing in real estate continues. The latest data vouchsafes the visible return of investor sentiment for real estate, and the enthusiasm is not limited to traditional property hotspots of the big cities.
ANAROCK’s recent second edition of its Consumer Sentiment Survey confirms that investors are equally – if not more – upbeat on the prospects that India’s Tier 2 & 3 cities offer.
Lack of affordability in the larger cities is the primary hurdle to the largest investor base, and property investors are now looking at smaller towns and cities.
However, their increasing bullishness on Tier 2 &
Shajai Jacob, CEO – GCC (Middle East) – ANAROCK Property Consultants
- NRI investments into Indian real estate are led Indian expatriates from UAE, USA, UK, and Canada
- Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi-NCR currently attract the lion’s share of NRI investments
- Equities score higher than real estate on capital appreciation, but residential property comes with the benefit of rental yield, relatively lower risk and considerable tax benefits
Riding on a wave of economic reforms, improving transparency and better governance, foreign investments in Indian real estate are set to scale new heights.
With laws now allowing 100% FDI (foreign direct investment) in construction development and REITs now in place for commercial real estate, the Indian real estate industry will see increasing investment infusions from NRIs (non-resident Indians).
According to a World Bank report, India received USD 79 billion in remittances in 2018 – with a sizeable portion going into real estate.
NRI investments into Indian real estate are led Indian expatriates from UAE, USA, UK, and Canada. In terms of Indian cities,
Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants
As hoped for, the RBI has reduced the repo rate by another 25 basis points.
Back-to-back repo rate cuts by the RBI are indeed the perfect start to a new financial year, resulting in overall reduction of 50 basis points since February 2019.
The repo rate now stands at 6% – returning to the same level as in April 2018. This will augur well for the Indian real estate sector and keep the momentum going in the coming year.
As it is, the sector already saw an uplift in homebuyer sentiment due to the multiple sops offered by both the Government and the RBI in just the first three months of 2019.
These measures have contributed to a 12% increase in housing sales in Q1 2019 across the top 7 cities.
The RBI has done its part by slashing the repo rates. The onus is now on the banks to concurrently reduce home loan rates further, thereby encouraging more fence-sitters to take purchase decisions and giving another boost to the real estate sector.
Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants
After zeroing on a property, buyers need to identify a suitable home loan lender to fulfil their financial needs.
Officially, there are two major lenders in the market – banks (including both public and private banks) and the housing finance companies (HFCs).
To get the best deal, a buyer must select a lender depending on their prevailing interest rates, eligibility criteria, processing fee and other factors.
Both banks and HFCs have their own pros and cons. Here are some advice and guidelines for taking a home loan in India.
Banks vs HFCs: Which is the better option?
Declaring an outright ‘winner’ among the two options is indeed difficult. Earlier, the steep interest rates of HFCs gave banks an edge.
However, now there is a parity between the two as most HFCs offer loans at rates within 8.6%-11.2%, while banks offer loans at 8.3%-10.5%. The gap has significantly reduced and buyers may now consider either option.
Eligibility criteria & process:
Rising NPAs over the past years have compelled banks to follow stricter norms for lending.
To market properties across India to Kenya’s populous & thriving ‘44th tribe’ targeting investments in their homeland
Nairobi, 10 March 2019: India’s leading real estate agency ANAROCK has partnered with Satguru Group for an event to promote investment into Indian real estate by Kenya-based NRIs. This feature-rich event will be held on Sunday, 10th February 2019 in Nairobi.
During the event captioned as ‘Karmbhoomi Se Janambhoomi’, ANAROCK and Satguru Group will showcase attending NRIs with some of the best investment opportunities in India real estate.
The spread of options will encompass all housing formats from apartments and villas to townhouses in both the affordable and premium segments.
Shajai Jacob, CEO – GCC, ANAROCK Property Consultants says, “While there is a constant discussion revolving around NRIs from the Gulf, US, UK and Europe, Kenya-based Indians do not seem to appear on anyone’s radar. This is surprising, given that Kenya-based Indians – though only about 1% of the country’s population, are actually heavily involved in Kenya’s economy. In fact, Indians in Kenya contribute substantially in most of the sectors driving Kenya’s economy and operate countless small and large business enterprises in all of Kenya’s major geographies.
Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants
- Nearly 60% of women home seekers prefer a property within the budget-range of INR 80 lakh; 52% will opt for ready-to-move-in homes
- Women homebuyers benefit from lower stamp duty charges, low home loan interest rates, and tax deductions
- Women must now mandatory be either co-owners or sole owners of affordable homes.
There’s a famous saying – the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. This is so apt today, as women are excelling across sectors and increasingly making their mark in a male-dominated world.
The 21st-century millennial woman is progressive and increasingly financially independent. This had led to a distinct shift in her investment preferences – where gold and fixed deposits were the primary choices for Indian women, real estate now rides high in her investment portfolio.
In fact, in ANAROCK’s consumer sentiment survey, nearly 20% of participants were women. Among the many highlights of this survey – nearly 42% of women respondents preferred real estate as an investment asset class, followed by 30% for FDs and a mere 17% for gold.
PRESS RELEASE
ANAROCK Launches Dedicated Operations In Abu Dhabi
To expand next into Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait
- More than 50% of NRIs living and working in the UAE have interest in Indian realty; top investment cities are Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Chennai & Kochi
- In ANAROCK’s Consumer Sentiment Survey, NRIs from the GCC countries comprised maximum share with 36% (followed by 23% from Western Europe, 22% in Asia and 19% in North America)
- NRI investors have a higher appetite for under-construction properties than resident Indians; higher focus on investment for ROI rather than on end-use
Abu Dhabi, 5 March 2019: Marking the next step on its international expansion agenda, ANAROCK Property Consultants has announced the launch of its dedicated office in Abu Dhabi, the high-profile capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
ANAROCK Abu Dhabi is the Firm’s second operational base in the UAE after launching operations in Dubai in 2017.
“We are in aggressive expansion mode in this key market.
Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants
The doomsayers are having a field day with predicting that Brexit will cause the UK real estate market to dry up and blow away. In India, we are quite used to gleeful prophecies of doom regarding real estate and take them with a healthy pinch of salt.
No doubt, every change involves disruption and confusion in the beginning. In the case of Brexit, the magnitude of change is undoubtedly massive considering the sheer size and also the diversity of the involved countries.
It is not only their economies which will be affected – like in every death or divorce, there will also be grief. Grief is an emotion, and for that reason, it will affect market sentiments for a while.
If we apply to the process of the Five Stages of Grief outlined by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, we can see that the involved countries have already moved from denial and anger to bargaining and depression.
What inevitably follows is acceptance – and with acceptance comes the restoration of normalcy, stability and even growth.
Brexit is currently the source of a lot of uncertainty,
Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants
RBI’s decision to slash the repo rate by 25 basis point to 6.25 % is a welcome and unexpectedly positive move, given the sops that the recent expansionary budget gave to farmers at an additional cost of Rs 75,000 crore per annum.
It was also overdue, as this has been the first cut in a long time. It definitely augurs well for the real estate sector which also received a budget bonanza in the previous week.
Rate cuts give a substantial push to property buyer sentiments, and it was certainly high time for such a cut.
Home loan interest rates increased by as much as 5-7% in the last year because the RBI hiked its repo rates by 50 basis points over the same period. In other words, home loans had become a more expensive proposition.
However, the real estate market does not depend only on marginally improved buyer sentiment – there are larger issues that hold the sector hostage right now.
The liquidity issues post the NBFC crisis are a bigger concern. NBFCs and HFCs have seriously curtailed disbursements to developers.