Mumbai Tops List For UAE NRI Property Investors – Survey

Mumbai tops the list of favoured property investment destinations for UAE-based non-resident Indians (NRIs), according to a new survey.

Conducted by Sumansa Exhibitions – the organisers of the Indian Property Show in Dubai – the survey found that 31.9 per cent of the respondents picked Mumbai as their top city for property investment.

The south Indian city of Bangalore came second with 24.4 per cent preferring to invest in residential property in the coming months. Chennai and Pune shared the third spot, followed by Delhi, the survey said.

“Bangalore’s property market bucked the trend in other metros with many new launches, good demand and resilient prices,” said Sunil Jaiswal, CEO Sumansa Exhibitions.

“Sector experts predict that residential property in the city will remain a good bet for 2014, too. Bangalore is the third-largest real estate investment hub for High Net worth Individuals (HNIs) and tops the list in terms of investments from Non Resident Indians (NRIs) looking at settling down in India in the future. With a high net-worth individuals population of about 10,000 — the third highest in the country after Delhi and Mumbai — Bangalore’s super-luxury segment is also worth watching.”

According to the survey, 16 per cent of the respondents were looking for high-end properties priced above one crore rupees (over $170,440), 31 per cent were seeking properties in the price range of over 76 lakh rupees (over $129,366), while the majority – 52.6 per cent – were focussed on the mid-segment range of 26-75 lakh rupees (between $44,263 – $127,682).

The survey also found that around 77 per cent of the NRIs were interested in buying residential apartments, with 72 per cent of the buyers aiming to make the purchase within the next six months. Most of the buyers, at 67 per cent, were within the age group of 36 to 50 years.

India’s real estate sector receives significant investment from NRIs, with the amount reaching over $2 billion in 2013, according to property consultancy JLL. The figure indicated a growth of 35 per cent compared to 2012, and accounted for almost 12 per cent of total apartment sales in the top seven cities, it said.