Dubai: Non-resident Indians (NRIs) in the UAE are buying properties in India taking advantage of the fall in rupee, industry players have said. According to the Gulf News, Realtors, ahead of the three-day Indian Property Show beginning in Dubai this Thursday, said that pre-launch bookings by NRIs have risen by 80 percent in recent months.
The decline in rupee means that a property worth 6 million rupees (Dh0.39 million) in India now costs Dh 370,000, as against Dh 440,000 a month back. Manav Ahuja, Head, Sales and Marketing of property brokerage Auric Acres, said a client who was planning to buy a villa in Bangalore by the year end, took the plunge last month, making a straight saving of Rs 3.7 million.
Ahuja said: "We are seeing NRIs buying more of residential properties. In fact, 70 percent of the queries are for residential properties in Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai. Kapil Goyal of Nirmal Lifestyle said apartments are more popular with NRIs.
He said rental returns on residential properties range between three to four percent, while those for ready commercial properties vary between five to eight percent. He said till last month, 90 percent of UAE''s NRI investors were buying properties in India, with only 10 percent of them investing in the UAE. "But now, UAE real estate is also picking up due to the unrest in Arab countries like Yemen, Egypt, etc ... NRIs have started investing again in the UAE of late," he added.
ANI
First Published: Thursday, June 21, 2012, 16:54