The Rupee’s Fall Pushes NRIs to Invest in Indian Real Estate

It's a great time for a non-resident Indian (NRI) if they invest more money in their homeland, especially in real estate. The rupee has fallen 13.04% against the US dollar since the beginning of 2018, giving them more bang for the buck. According to the RBI Professional Forecaster’s Survey (August 2018), it is expected that rupee will strengthen to Rs 67.7 as against the US dollar by the first quarter of 2019-20.

In the present scenario, the NRIs can get a lot of good options from realty developers. In order to bring back sales volume, builders are offering a slew of incentives such as waiver on stamp duty, floor rise, and GST. They are going an extra mile to catch the attention of the NRI customer base. Many reputed developers like Godrej, Sobha, Kanakia, Raheja, Vatika, Omkar, Alphathum, etc. are coming up with exciting offers like subvention and assured rentals, that are becoming a huge hit among the NRI customers.

Besides the rupee fall, some of the other factors that are still becoming positive for more NRI investments in Indian real estate in recent times:

Competitive pricing: 

Prices over the years have not increased but gained some stability because of the several measures and inventory with the developers. However, it is also worth mentioning that despite this, developers are not offering any good rebates. In the current scenario, a weak rupee has offered the NRIs a further 10-15%leverage. Hence it brings them a straightaway average profit of 25% of bookings properties in India. This has made the real estate market in India more affordable. 

Both residential and commercial space is a preferred option:

NRIs are preferring Residential and Commercial Property types to invest and earn quantitatively better through rentals and capital appreciation over the years. Indian law has become quite investor-friendly, which makes it easier for the NRIs to invest in Indian real estate.

Real estate legislation: 

Recent policy reforms such as the implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016 (RERA), the goods and services tax (GST), amendments to the Benami Properties Act, have improved transparency in the sector and increased the confidence of the NRI community. 

Lower end cities are gaining a push:

When it is investing money in real estate, not only the Tier-I cities but also other lower end cities have managed to attract attention due to the strengthening in infrastructural development which will in some time is going to be a good property price appreciation.

Growing rental segment:

Government schemes like Skill India will increase the migration of skilled workers to Indian metros and these migrated workers will need housing, especially in the rental segment. Those NRIs who want to earn higher rents on properties in Indian metropolitan cities, then this is a great opportunity.