Rupee slide spells Indian property boom for NRIs

A depreciating rupee has made properties in India almost 20 to 30 per cent cheaper for non-resident Indians (NRIs), according to a new report.
And in order to get NRIs buying into their projects, developers have taken to pre-launching their premium developments in the overseas market.

The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), in a paper titled, “Falling rupee sparks property boom from NRIs”, said: "It's definitely not good news for people back home, but for a non-resident Indian (NRI), this is definitely the best time to invest. At the moment any non-resident Indian buying a property in India can save around 20-30 per cent on his/her property value.”

Besides, the chamber states realtors are expecting an increase of 35 per cent in business enquiries from the NRIs this year.

"With the rupee riding low against the dollar, Indian residents are looking to accelerate investment plans back home,” DS Rawat, Secretary-General, Assocham, said in a statement.

Earlier this year, Alok Anchan, Sales Manager, Rajesh Lifespaces, a premium developer in Mumbai, had told Emirates 24|7:  “Although the depreciating rupee is not the finest news for the domestic market, for NRI’s the weakening rupee in conversion provides a good opportunity to park their spare funds in India now.”

The rupee has fallen by about 34 per cent against the US dollar since August 2011 and hit an all-time low of 64.62 against the dollar last week.

Tempting NRIs with pre-launch offers

Meanwhile, a number of developers have started publishing advertisements in local UAE dailies, enticing buyers with pre-launch offers.

Not limited to that India’s Lodha Group is inviting property brokers and consultants in Dubai to participate in the pre-launch of a 17-acre luxury development in Worli Mumbai in the emirate.

Puravankara Projects has also announced pre-launch offers for NRIs in the UAE for its projects in Bangalore and Chennai.

Assocham survey found that NRIs investing in property are primarily coming from the UAE and other Gulf countries, the US, Singapore, Australia, the UK, Canada and South Africa.

It is estimated that nearly five million Indian expatriates live in the six Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and they remit close to $30 billion every year.

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