Property Investment in India

 

Property investment in India

Property Investment in India

Few countries offer the cultural diversity and sheer variety of experiences that is on offer throughout India. A country steeped in history and rich in ancient traditions, India is an intoxicating blend of incredible sights, friendly people and diverse cultures. In recent years, the global tourism industry has also woken to the wide array of opportunities available throughout this beautiful country, and over 5 million foreign tourists visited India in 2007, a growth of over 14% on the previous year.  

 

Alongside the rich heritage and ancient traditions, modern day India paints a very different picture. The past ten years have seen the birth of an economic revolution in India. One of the core ‘Tiger Economies’ of the 1990’s, India is today at the forefront of global technology and innovation. This rapid growth in India’s economy shows no signs of slowing at present, and is expected to be larger than Japan by 2023 and the US by 2042.

 

A major bi-product of this economic revolution has been the rapid expansion of India’s middle class, which is number around 580 million people by 2025, an increase of 440 million over the next 16 years. With over 65% of India’s population aged under 35, the demand for property in India over the next twenty years is expected to increase considerably.

 

As well the huge domestic market, the property market in India also benefits from the large number of NRI (non-resident Indian) investors. These investors, of Indian descent but living and working overseas have become a focal of Indian property developers in recent years, eager to capitalise on the large number of Indian investors working in markets such as the UK, US and Western Europe.   

 

As a result of India’s strong economic performance and rapidly expanding tourism, foreign direct investment into India tripled to $16 billion in 2007, and is expected to double in 2008. Understandably, these strong economic indicators, coupled with the sizeable demographic changes have resulted in a large increase in demand for property in India, particularly in the major economic centres of Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.

 

Such has been the increase in interest in the Indian real estate market, that a recent report from Merrill Lynch forecast growth of approximately 700% between 2008 and 2015.