Indians – 3rd biggest investing community in US realty market

With an $8 billion investment in the US realty market, Indians have become the third biggest international investor community after Canadians and Chinese as per brokerage firm Sotheby’s International Realty.

I think and I believe Indians that live in the US are one of the largest group of millionaires in the America… they are already there and therefore they are investing in real estate,” US-based Sotheby’s International Realty President and CEO Philip A White told PTI.

According to US-based National Association of Realtors data Indians had spent $5.8 billion in fiscal 2014 to purchase real estate in that country. China topped the list of foreign nationals with $22 billion in in realty for the one year period ended March 2014.

The spate of investments in the international real estate market is not only limited to US markets but also to London and Dubai where Indians have invested 1 billion pounds and $2 billion respectively in the first half of 2015.

In August 2014, Sotheby’s International Realty signed an agreement with Indian firm RealPro Infra Pvt Ltd towards establishing its Indian arm under the name North India Sotheby’s International Realty, aimed towards catering the increasing luxury real estate demands of resident and non-resident Indians.
Informing the details about the investments made by the Indian community in the US, North India Sotheby’s International Realty Founder and President Ashwin Chadha said: “After Canadians and Chinese, Indians are third largest international community in US in terms of real estate investment and had invested around $8 billion last year.”

Speaking about their optimistic expectations of the Indian luxury real estate market, White said, “India as a country has huge potential to be the top nation in terms of business for us. It may take few years to get there.

“Indians searching property globally, I think we all know Indians put big premium on real estate as a tangible asset to protect from inflation or number of things so I think they keep on looking at the opportunities,” White added.

Elaborating about their domestic arms operation so far, North India Sotheby’s International Realty Founder and CEO Amit Goyal said they have already tied up with some established players in the sector including Tata Housing, Sobha and Max Group’s Antara Housing.

Steve Waugh

Cricketer Steve Waugh promoted Waugh Global Realty has entered the domestic realty market by launching a portal to gratify the housing demands of NRIs. Waugh’s entry into the Indian real estate has come at a time when the realty sector is going through turmoil as inventories are piling up. This is likely to entice more NRIs to invest in India’s property market as they may fetch good bargains.

“NRIs are enthusiastic about investing in the Indian realty market. Many are looking at good properties in the country not only from the investment perspective, but also to settle down later.

He says that the venture is a result of the commitment Waugh made to himself that “he wanted to play a shaping role in India’s growth story over the next 10 years”. According to a report in Economic Times, this is first such platform that caters to the NRI market. “Our aim is to concentrate on the NRI investment experience through the online medium,” Waugh, founder and chairman of the company has been quoted as saying in a report.

The portal currently has 91 properties listed on its portal of 10 developers across seven cities — Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. Waugh Global has partnered with leading developers like the Lodha Group, Godrej, Shapoorji, K Raheja, Kalpataru, Kolte Patil and Sobha Developers, among several others.

Dean Honan, the Managing Director of Waugh Global  explained that the focus of the portal is not only confined to listing properties but also to offer a broad range of additional services like property management and rental solutions, land advisory services, NRI qualification and activation services. The company also plans to introduce Australian property sales and market entry gradually.

Sobha Dream Series to cater the housing needs of mid income level

One of the major realty firm Sobha developers is planning to invest the amount of Rs 3,500 crore with an aim to develop and construct the mid income housing project in next 7 to 8 years. With this new project Sobha is trying to enter in the new segment with Sobha Dream Series to cater the housing needs of mid income level.

Sobha realty developers are more in to the segment of luxury homes and for most of the flats the prices are in the range of Rs 40 to 75 lakh. JC Sharma, MD and VC of Sobha developers, stated that “In project the total cost is expected to be approx. Rs 4,000 as we will work on the 10 per cent profit margin. However; the overall construction cost will be completed through advance payment through customers and bank loans”.

This project will be developed on the land of 81 acres at the location Balagere whereas; the constructed area will be approx. 10 million sq ft and it will comprise 7,000 homes, says Ravi Menon, Chairman of Sobha developers. The more he added that company has launched around 2,100 units in the first phase of development and it will comprise 2 million sq ft of fully develop area and we have already sold more than 500 units in this current project.

The whole construction will be based on pre cast technology and the work will begin in few months. From last 20 years, Sobha developers has constructed more than 70 million sq ft area in more than 22 cities.