Post-coronavirus, non-resident Indians prefer to buy luxury homes back home

Leading Indian IT hubs Bangalore and Pune are the most preferred cities for NRIs to invest in residential properties, the poll conducted by leading property consultancy firm Anarock showed.

Gulf-based expat Indians form an overwhelming portion of expat NRIs who invest in residential properties in India, mostly because of uncertainties linked to their jobs or visas.

As high as 73 percent of the NRIs polled now prefer properties priced between $125,000-$350,000, as against only 41 percent who said they wished to invest in properties in this price range in the pre-pandemic days, the survey said.

Three and four bedroom apartments currently top the NRI wish-list.

The majority of NRIs generally preferred to invest in mid-segment housing properties in the pre-pandemic years.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has increased NRIs’ emotional association of long-term security with physical assets. They are also driven by the uncertainties posed by the pandemic,” Prashant Thakur, director and head of research at Anarock said.

“Luxury properties have emerged as a hot favourite with NRIs because of the depreciating rupee value translating into greater buying power, coupled with ongoing developer discounts and offers. A majority of NRIs are buying for end-use, not as investments,” Thakur said.

Prashant Thakur, director and head of research at Anarock

The poll also threw up another significant preference by NRIs for booking residential properties, with as high as 67 percent looking for only ready-to-move-in options in their homeland.

Only 10 percent said they would consider booking in new launch projects, while 9 percent said they were open to buying properties which were slated for completion in a year.

According to the survey, of the total polled, 24 percent of respondents said they have already booked properties in the last six months, while 38 percent NRIs said they were looking to make the most of the prevailing market conditions in India, including discounts, offers and lowest-best home loan rates before firming up their buy plans.

Significantly, the survey also showed that an overwhelming majority of the respondents – 86 percent – said they would only consider properties by branded developers who have the highest project completion capabilities, resulting in the lowest execution risk.

Banglore.

Another reason for this choice is NRIs’ desire to buy into projects with international-grade amenities.

Most of the NRIs seeking property in India are aged between 35-45 years of age.

Among all NRI respondents who participated in the survey, close to 68 percent considered real estate as the best asset class for them at this time.

The survey said about 44 percent respondents felt that residential property prices in India would remain stable in the short-term – next 12 months, while 27 percent anticipated the prices to increase during the year.