real estate history in india

Real EstateLast Updated: June 29, 2007
The real estate story in India is growing bigger by the day. Industry experts believe that Indian real estate has huge demand potential in almost every sector -- especially commercial, residential and retail.
Growth in commercial office space requirement is led by the burgeoning outsourcing and information technology (IT) industry. By 2010, the IT sector alone is expected to require 150 million sq.ft. of space across major cities. It is estimated that in the residential sector there is a housing shortage of 19.4 million units out of which 6.7 million are in urban India. The increase in purchasing power and exposure to organised retail formats has redefined the consumption pattern. As a result, retail projects have been mushrooming across even B-grade cities. The retail market is expected to grow at around 35 per cent. Industry observers feel that this growth is facilitated by favourable demographics, increasing purchasing power, existence of customer-friendly banks and housing finance companies, professionalism in real estate and reforms initiated by the Government to attract global investors.
Global majors in Indian real estate
Policy changes introduced by the Government in February 2005 allowed 100 per cent foreign investments in construction projects with fast-track approvals. But the real attraction for foreign investors is potential investment returns of 25 per cent and more in Indian projects that might be hard to come by in the US and in Western Europe today. A report by property consultants Jones Lang LaSalle estimates that US$ 10 billion foreign investment will be injected into the Indian real estate sector in the next 12-18 months. International companies like Ayala of the Philippines, Signature from Dubai, Och-Ziff Capital, EurIndia and Old Lane have indicated their interest in entering the Indian real estate market soon. On the cards is sizeable FDI inflow from Malaysia, followed by the UK, US, Israel and Singapore.
Industry sources say over 90 foreign investors are already in the country tapping investment avenues. Nearly two dozen US funds are raising US$ 3.5 billion for investments in Indian realty. Those raising the funds include Wall Street powerhouses such as the Blackstone Group (US$ 1 billion) Goldman Sachs (US$ 1 billion), Citigroup Property Investors (US$ 125 million), Morgan Stanley (US$ 70 million) and GE Commercial Finance Real Estate (US$ 63 million). Others raising funds are JP Morgan, Warburg Pincus, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, Colony Capital and Starwood Capital.
In mid-2007, Morgan Stanley closed a deal worth about US$ 150 million with Oberoi Constructions in Mumbai. The Nakheel Group in Dubai entered into a US$ 10 billion deal with DLF for residential projects in Tier I and II cities. This was followed by three financial institutions -- Khaleej Finance and Investment (KFI) from Bahrain, Kuwait Investment Company (KIC) and Kuwait Finance House (KFH) -- from the Middle East promoting a US$ 200 million fund for investing in India. Called the 'Indian Private Equity Fund', it targets activities with controlled risks in growing sectors like real estate. Close on its heels, California Public Employees’ Retirement System entered India, investing US$ 100 million in a US$ 400-million real estate fund promoted by IL&FS. Ascendas, Asia’s leading business space provider is launching the first property trust of Indian assets worth US$ 500 million in Singapore in July 2007 with the renowned real estate developer Embassy Group.