India one of best places for global realty investments: Report

Mumbai: The global realty investments into India rose by 3 percent annually in the last two years and they are likely to see a similar trend in 2017 as well, according to a report by a leading property consultancy.

Global investors are optimistic about the country's long-term economic potential and this will drive the flow of funds into the sector, it said

According to Cushman & Wakefield, most of the global real estate investments in India during 2017 would be made in commercial office assets in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.

Interestingly, these cities are well-placed to outperform other cities from emerging economies in Asia- Pacific region, said the report by the global real estate services firm.

"The global real estate investment volumes in India amounted to USD 4,731 million in 2015 and USD 4,871 million USD in 2016, indicating a 3 per cent annual increase and 2017 is expected to mark a similar investment volume," Cushman & Wakefield senior director (research services) Siddhart Goel said.

"This is because global investors are optimistic that despite the withdrawal of high-value bank notes resulting in a short-term fall in economics activities, the reduction in its grey economy and recent electoral gains will strengthen Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's hand to push through reforms to boost long-term economic potential," Goel added.

Further, the report said the Asia-Pacific region is expected attract nearly 44 per cent of the total USD 1.4 trillion global real estate investments with India being one of the best places among the emerging markets in this respect.

The Asia-Pacific region's (including India) real estate sector is expected to garner investments worth USD 611 billion of the total 1,394.3 billion in the current year.

The region had seen almost similar investment trend in 2016 with global real estate investments amounting to USD 601.3 billion (43.7 per cent) of USD 1,373.7 billion.

"Outsourcing will continue to push demand in the leading tech hubs while co-working will add to demand in gateway cities," the report said.

"Some of the leading emerging market opportunities will be found in Asia, particularly if economic conditions stabilise and reforms continue. The region, overall, is in a stronger position than in past cycles with economic resilience generally up," it added.

Asia-Pacific would be followed by North America which may attract global real estate investments worth USD 470.8 billion and the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) with USD 307.3 billion investment volume.

Latin America is likely to garner investment amounting to USD 5.01 billion in the realty sector in the current year, the report added.