India: The Next Real Estate Frontier

India is pregnant with real estate possibilities. Within five years, India is projected to be the world’s third largest economy, when measured in purchasing power terms. Its middle class is expected to be around 300 million people, larger than the entire U.S.A. population. “India’s real estate needs are huge, second only to China’s near insatiable needs,” says ResearchWorldwide.com—The Worldwide Commercial Real Estate Information Portal.

Jones Lang LaSalle, Colliers, Deloitte, Hotel News Resource, Knight Frank and Cushman & Wakefield have produced recent research on India’s real estate potential. This research can easily be accessed via ResearchWorldwide.com.

The consensus of this research and forecasting findings is that India is already attracting the attention of global real estate players who are focusing on developing India-based businesses. However, the opportunities are relatively unlimited for other real estate players to profit from India's exceptional real estate demands.

Occupier demand for suburban offices will continue to experience a 30% plus annual growth rate from the information technology (IT) and information technology enabled services (ITES) sectors. Other sectors showing strong demand for offices are telecom, financial services, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.

India’s retail expansion needs are growing at over 10% p.a.. Although there currently is a high level of shopping center construction the quality is perceived as poor. There is huge untapped potential for high quality shopping mall development.

Tourism spending in India is running at 25% p.a. growth—the highest growth rate in Asia Pacific, according to VISA’s spending data.

The residential demand for housing is massive with some 20 million units required in urban areas. There are inherent risks for global real estate players in getting involved in India, however most of these risks are identifiable and capable of being dealt with, according to the research findings.
Cities and towns that require investigation for real estate opportunities include Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Kochi, Mangalore, Mysore, Jaipur, Indore and Nagpure.