Time to woo NRIs

Stability in housing prices and favourable rupee movements are bringing back the NRIs in a big way to the real estate market, mortgage giant HDFC has said.

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To tap their interest, HDFC as also a number of property developers are undertaking special marketing campaigns including by way of organising property fairs in places with high NRI population such as the US and the UK. “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,” HDFC Ltd Managing Director Renu Sud Karnad told PTI.

HDFC, the country’s largest mortgage lender, has planned ‘India Homes Fair’ exhibition in London on May 30-31, which will have more than 100 projects on display from across India.

Karnad said that housing prices had stabilised, while softening of interest rates had helped make the home purchase much more affordable.

Property consultancy major CBRE’s South Asia Head (Residential Services) A S Sivaramakrishnan also said  that NRIs have become extremely important for the Indian real estate market and they contribute 8-10 per cent of the total housing sales volume across India.

Stating that the contribution of NRIs in housing sales varies from city to city, he said the NRIs account for 30-35 per cent of apartments sales in Kerala.

Their contribution in Hyderabad and Delhi-NCR markets are 10-12 per cent, Sivaramakrishnan added.

Cushman & Wakefield Executive Director (Residential Services) Shveta Jain also said that investments in the real  estate sector by NRIs have gained momentum over time with prices being stable or reaching bottom in select cities and markets, rupee devaluations and attractive long term returns.

“With city limits expanding to peripheries, investors have a variety of products ranging from affordable to luxury developments and special housing projects like senior homes to choose from.

“Given the tepid demand from resident buyers and investors, developers have also undertaken special marketing efforts to target NRIs, whose investor confidence in Indian real estate market will get a further boost with the introduction of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill,” Jain added.

Mahindra Lifespaces Developers is also planning to open offices in key overseas markets to assist NRIs in buying its properties in India, with an aim to increase the contribution of international sales in its total revenues to up to 25 per cent over next few years.

The company recently opened its first international office in Dubai which will address the needs of NRIs in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

“Currently, sales from international markets contribute nearly 20 per cent of our total revenues. We want to increase the share to up to 25 per cent in the next few years.

“Setting up offices in our key international markets will help us address the needs of our customers in these regions,” Mahindra Lifespaces' Managing Director and CEO Anita Arjundas said.

The GCC region, which is a key market for Mahindra Lifespaces, contributes more than 50 per cent of the total international sales.

“After GCC, the other two key markets are the USA and Singapore. We may also look at setting up a similar office in Singapore as it is the third largest market after the USA. But currently, our focus will be on the GCC market,” she said.

Arjundas said there is a significant demand from NRIs in the GCC, primarily in markets like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, while those in the US and Singapore are also looking at cities like Mumbai, Pune, NCR, Nagpur and Bengaluru, among others.

“There are some NRIs who look at Indian real estate market as an investment opportunity while there are others who are looking at buying first homes.

“We are expanding our portfolio to cater to their demands by providing homes between a price range of Rs 40 lakh and Rs 3 crore,” she added.

Karnad said the projects on display during its London fair are from Bengaluru, Chennai, Gujarat, Goa, Hyderabad, Kerala, Mumbai, NCR, Pune, Punjab and Kolkata, among others.

The options include flats, villas and plots and customers would be given exclusive offers and value-added benefits.

HDFC would be holding such exhibitions for the eighth year in a row at a foreign location, showing its popularity amongst the NRI and PIO (Person of Indian Origin) community in London and other cities abroad. — PTI