Call it the turn of the tide. Wealthy Indians are making the most of the downside and are again choosing to buy property on foreign shores after a decline in 2008. The US sub prime crisis and the global economic downturn is making Indians eye good bargains in international markets. According to international property brokers in India, the number of transactions have gone up by 15-20% in comparison to the same period last year. Says Samir Chopra, CMD, Re/Max India, an international property broker with presence in over 73 countries across the world, “There has been more interest over the last six months. Firstly, prices especially in the US are quite low as compared to earlier. Also, a lot of HNIs (high networth individuals) who send their children for education are also looking at buying property outside. Moreover, RBI has relaxed foreign expenditure to $200,000 (Rs 1 cr) per year…so many HNIs prefer to buy during March-April as it increases their buying power from $200,000 to $400,000.” In fact, the permissible level could go up to Rs 4 cr if both husband and wife buy a property together and the payment gets split in March and April.

Not just Indian HNIs but even NRIs are finding foreign properties more lucrative. According to global real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM), compared to last year, the drop in NRI interest in India-based properties has been almost 50% in all sectors. “India is not the only country that NRIs are now eyeing for realty investment. After the sub-prime crisis fallout in the US, NRI investors have woken up to the potential there,” says Sanjay Dutt, CEO-Business, JLLM. Singapore, Dubai and London are the current preferred destinations as they also offer a far greater spread of interesting opportunities for Indian buyers in the Rs 4 crore plus bracket than cities like Mumbai and Delhi, as per JLLM. Anshuman Magazine, CMD, CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), says that Mauritius and Thailand are also picking up as destinations for investments, in addition to London which has been the old time favourite. Magazine, however, feels that although there will be an increase in these investments in the near future, it might still not be very significant.

“The interest has gone up from previous times but is still not at a very high level. People mainly look at buying there either due to business interests, a desire to diversify investment portfolio or to own a second home in such locations,” he says. Indian real estate developers, however, said they have no plans of launching new projects in foreign markets in the near future. “Definitely the Indian HNIs are buying properties in US and UK as the prices have corrected substantially in these markets. However, I don’t think any developer is going to launch projects there,” says Niranjan Hiranandani, MD, Hiranandani Developers. Agrees Pradeep Jain, chairman, Parsvnath Developers, “We are not setting up any project outside India right now. Our main focus right now is the domestic market.”

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