While stocks and bonds have held their positions as traditional investment, investors are increasingly looking towards the alternative investments real estate, hedge funds, private equity and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to engineer an overall enhanced performance of their portfolios.
Improving construction quality, enhanced market transparency, and availability of suitable options have made the Indian real estate market a definitive asset class to invest, which provides a stable and predictable income yield along with a possibility of capital appreciation. While residential markets in India have already witnessed a rapid bounce, commercial markets have touched a cyclical low and are expected to recover to 4-6 quarters.
The market value of investment grade real estate in India under construction has increased from $69.4 billion at end-2006 to $101.3 billion by end June 2010, which equates to 8.2% f Indias nominal GDP FOR 2009.
The market value of commercial office and retail under construction has remained range-bound during 2006-2010, due to the effect of an increase in construction activity offset by a fall in capital values. However, the contribution of residential segment has amplified due to a confluence of increase in construction activity and rapid recovery of property prices.
A significant portion of this market value is required as costs of construction and development of these real estate assets. The costs have been assessed to be $48.5 billion over a period of 2-3 years.
The market value of commercial (office and retail) real estate under construction is $34.8 billion. Commercial office space under development contributes to 74% of the estimated market value being developed in the commercial sector.
As of 2Q 2010, Tier I cities of Mumbai, NCR-Delhi and Bangalore contribute to 70% of the market value of commercial office space under construction, while Tier 2 cities of Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata contribute to 21% of the pie. Other investment grade developments in Tier 3 cities contribute to a more 9% of the pan-India market value being developed in India today.
However, with infrastructural developments and lover real estate costs, the shared of Tier 3 cities is likely to grow In future. While the Tier I cities contribute to 62% of the commercial retail space under development,27% is supplied by the Tier 2 cities.
Residential sector has been the most resilient in the recent downturn, aided by the high demand for housing in India. While residential property prices slumped in 1H09, their raped recovery in 2H09 and 1H10 was accompanied by a slew of launches across India.
As of 2Q 2010, the market value of residential properties under construction is $66.5 billion, contribution 66% of the value of total real estate under construction in India.
While the premium segment comprises only 4% of the saleable area being developed, it contributes to 24% of market value. While NCR Delhi leads in terms of volume of residential properties being developed, Mumbai contributes a larger share to the market value.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into housing and real estate in India increased steadily from $0.04 billion in 2005-06 to $2.18 billion In 2007-08. Since 2007-08, a total FDI of %7.82 billion has been put into housing and real estate in India. Considering an average construction period of three years for real estate properties, this equates to 7.7% of the market value of investment grade real estate under construction as of 2Q 2010.
Courtesy:-Times Property 02-10-2010
