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Weaker rupee, regulations make realty attractive for NRIs
Mumbai, Sep 23, 2018 (BSS/PTI) – A fluctuating rupee, and introduction
of various regulations to bring in transparency and accountability, are
making real estate more lucrative for non-resident Indians (NRIs), experts
say.
Rupee is hovering near 73 against the US dollar since the past one
week.
“The drop in rupee can be seen as an investment opportunity for
individual buyers as well as institutional investors. Over the past few
months we have witnessed a lot of interest from NRIs. This trend continues to
grow stronger due to the timely reforms introduced that brought transparency
and accountability in the sector,” CBRE Chairman, India, Southeast Asia,
Middle East and Africa Anshuman Magazine told PTI here.
With the real estate industry estimated at about Rs 3 trillion
annually, about 7-8 per cent of the inventory is being bought and held by
NRIs each year.
“This amounts to about Rs 21,000-30,000 crore of annual purchases by
NRIs each year. Due to weaker rupee, a 10 per cent depreciation allows NRIs
to enter at a 10 per cent discount compared to the domestic resident counter
parts,” Nisus Finance Managing Director and CEO Amit Goenka said.
Given the current trend of enquiries and purchases in the last 2-3
months, it is being estimated that this consumption will rise to about 10-12
per cent.
“Hence 3-5 per cent increase in NRI consumption of residential and
commercial inventory will further boost project sales and suck up significant
unsold inventory,” Goenka added.
According to Naredco national president Niranjan Hiranandani, for NRIs,
this situation (rupee fall) is a deja-vu of sorts as it is the same as the
scenario the country witnessed in 2012.
“Home buying is regaining traction, RERA has made it better and in a
situation where property prices at primary level are down by 10-15 percent,
and the currency valuation adds another 10-15 percent, it definitely is a
scenario where the NRI buyer is back,” he added.
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Property portal Zvesta.com’s founder Rajan RPT Rajan Dang seconded
that, saying fall in the rupee will definitely boost the demand of properties
in India and NRIs are willing to invest in realty market especially in the
metro cities to get good returns.
“Online property aggregators are also getting much benefit through this
with their increase in traffic numbers from day to day. NRIs are easily
searching for the best properties in India with having a golden opportunity
to buy it at an affordable price,” he added.
Omkar Realtors, which is marketing its recently launched integrated
realty project ‘Sereno OID’ in Andheri in the suburban Mumbai in both
domestic and global markets, has received almost 100 bookings from NRIs,
which is 20 per cent of total inventory, averaging a total cost of Rs 125
crore, into its project.
“For NRIs, depreciating Indian rupee seems encouraging to further
invest back home in a property due to lesser dependence on finance and lesser
outgo of EMI,” Omkar Realtors director Devang Verma said.
“We see investment interest bouncing back as expat Indians are not only
keen on purchasing a home in their homeland, but have also shown an increased
interest in purchasing purely for investment purposes,” he said.
BSS/PTI/HR/1410