NRIs’ return boosts the Luxury home sales

Non-resident and wealthy Indians are slowly making a return to the real estate market, helping to prop up sales of luxury and ultra-luxury homes, a study has suggested. The uptick could be ascribed to a host of systematic reforms that the sector has witnessed over the past couple of years, such as the introduction of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act and GST, as well as expectation of healthy returns as prices have bottomed out in the luxury segment. As per the research by ANAROCK Property Consultants, the unsold inventory of luxury and ultra-luxury homes across the top three markets — Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai — fell in the first half of 2019 from a year earlier. “NRIs typically bought luxury homes either for good RoI (return on investment) or for their self-use. After a prolonged wait-and-watch period post the recent reformatory changes in the Indian real estate market, the trend is now decidedly skewed towards personal use,” said Anuj Puri, the chairman of ANAROCK. Bengaluru has been on top of the list in shedding its unsold stock in both luxury (Rs 1.5-2.5 crore) and ultra-luxury (more than Rs 2.5 crore) segments. Inventory in the first six months fell 25% and 14%, respectively, from a year earlier in the two segments. In the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the stock declined by 8% in the luxury segment and 3% in ultra-luxury. The decline was around 2% in both segments in Delhi-NCR, said ANAROCK.