NRIs could contribute to real estate recovery

NRIs seem to have seen the pandemic as an opportunity to seek to invest. Many are considering moving back to India. The bottom line, however, seems to be that real estate could recover on a nice tailwind from NRI buying property in India. But are they?

File photo
File photo

The opportunity certainly is there on a platter. The actual conversion leaves something to be desired. A prominent realtor of Indian properties in the United States says that the spurt is more in enquiries than in real sales. "It seems now India has not been impacted as badly as expected," said Suni Hali of Best India Properties. "Lots of good deals are being offered. But builders are not marketing in the US. Everyday, bad news is hurting the general perception about ground realities in India," adding that as a result, the potential buyer from North America has become excessively cautious. However, that may not necessarily be the case about NRIs from everywhere. For example, for the Indian diaspora living in countries where citizenship is not available, such as most countries in the Middle East, India continues to be a good safety net, making property a good segue for people to secure their immediate or future return at a time when there is a combination of factors that seems particularly favourable, provided nothing has changed for a person in terms of income

On the other hand, Farook Mahmood, Chairman and Managing Director of Bengaluru-based Silverline Realty, says he is surprised at the level of real estate activity during the pandemic because it is much higher than expected. “NRIs form the backbone of our economy,” he said,adding that the fact that real estate has attracted both investments from international companies as well as from individual buyers shows the strength of and trust in, India’s economy during this period of pandemic. Expats who had to return from abroad also invested, although a majority of the investment during this period is from domestic buyers. Mahmood believes people are spending more in a crisis because of psychological reasons of seeking to advance long-term plans of buying property and goods related to it: They had “rather spend [their] money than leave it in a bank

 

https://www.constructionworld.in/latest-construction-news/real-estate-news/NRIs-could-contribute-to-real-estate-recovery/25307