Dubai: There is no doubt about it — optimism is the prevailing sentiment within India’s property space. The good cheer is quite apparent among developers as well as the investor community. Expatriate Indians too are joining in.
“Having been cautious for some time now, investors are keenly looking at real estate as a lucrative option,” said Sanjeev Birari, Head of International — Sales at Mantri Developers. “Moreover, there is an anticipation that interest rates would drop near the end of the current financial year (ending March 31, 2015), which will add further impetus.
“Property values are more or less the same in each city and there will not be dramatic variations. Bengaluru will surely be the best bet for NRIs to invest with many new launches, good demand and resilient prices.
“Until recently, the South Indian real estate market was known as highly price sensitive, with buyers primarily focused on the affordability quotient. However, with more and more foreign companies establishing their back offices in prime locations of South Indian cities and offering power jobs to the local populations, this is visibly reflected on its real estate. The purchase sentiment index has improved in the past six months — in fact, the overall index signifies that larger numbers are planning to purchase homes within the next six to 12 months.”
Currency dynamics
For the better part of two years, a weak Indian rupee meant that expat Indians had manoeuvre space to commit to choice property investments, either through all-cash purchases or part-financed through bank loans. But the exchange rate had tilted against them between June to November. But with the dollar gaining strength all over against, the currency dynamics could once again be in their favour. (But property will have strong competition for the expat dollar from the stock markets, which have maintained a more or less upward course from May onwards.)
“Although many of us have got used to an exchange rate of Rs16 plus for a dirham, we must take advantage and invest for better returns,” said Sunil Jaiswal, President of Sumansa Exhibitions, organiser of the Indian Property Show, the latest edition of which opens Thursday (December 11) in Dubai. “Today, the exchange rate stands at Rs16.86 a dirham as against Rs12 ... that means you get 40 per cent extra for your money. With this, you can buy a bigger home, make additional investments or even just park your fund in your NRE fixed-deposits. Enjoy the 40 per cent.”
