UAE NRI Alert: Best city to buy property in India is...

Seventy two per cent of non-resident Indians (NRIs) are planning to buy a property in India within next six months with Mumbai and Bengaluru being the favourite investment destinations.

“A huge percentage of NRIs from UAE about 79 per cent are interested in buying an apartment compared to plots, land, villas, commercial or retail in India,” revealed a new report released by Sumansa Exhibitions, the organisers of Indian Property Show.

“Seventy two per cent buyers aim for immediate purchase within next six months. Eleven per cent is not sure of the time frame for purchase while rest would consider buying within next one to two years,” it added.

Chennai, Pune, Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Navi Mumbai, Goa and Ahmedabad follow the financial capital (Mumbai) and the Silicon Valley (Bengaluru) of the country.

Fifty five per cent of 15,000 NRIs who participated in the survey said they would buy a property for self-use, while the remaining, 45 per cent, were buying as investment.

About 67 per cent of the buyers were in the age group of 31-50 years, the report said, adding, over 65 per cent buyers were looking for home finance.

Labelled as safe and secure investment, apartments remain the preferred choice of investment for most NRIs.

“2015 is expected to be a happening year for the real estate sector. Bangalore is an end user-driven market. It is most popular among techies and skilled professionals,” Sunil Jaiswal, President, Sumansa Exhibitions, said.

The three-day event will be held from June 11 to 13 at Dubai World Trade Centre with over 40,000 properties and 500 projects exhibited by over 150 developers.

In its report titled 'Top 10 cities in the Indian real estate market', PropEquity, a real estate data and analytics firm, said Bengaluru has now replaced Mumbai, which is placed at #8 in 2015.

HDFC, a top Indian bank, has also said that stability in housing prices and favourable rupee movements were bringing back NRIs to the real estate market.

“We are seeing a lot of interest from the NRI community. The rupee depreciation against the US dollar is also helping, for the prospective home buyers from the American continent,” Press Trust of India quoted HDFC Managing Director Renu Sud Karnad as saying.

The Indian Rupee was fetching Rs17.31 to Dh1 on Monday morning. In fact, a depreciating rupee makes properties in India almost 10 to 20 per cent cheaper for NRIs.

The World Bank has forecast remittances to the developing world to reach $440 billion in 2015, with India having topped the chart last year with $70bn inflow.

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