Rupee fall helping UAE NRIs to buy property in India: Survey

The decline in Indian rupee's value over the last one year is luring NRIs living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to buy property in India, even if the price stretched up to Rs 1 crore or more.

According to a survey conducted in Dubai by Sumansa Exhibitions, organisers of Indian Property Show, 89 per cent of NRIs (non-resident Indians) in the UAE are planning to leverage the power of their additional income by investing in properties worth up to Rs 1 crore and beyond.

"The weakening rupee gives more power to dirham currency that they have and current sluggish market enables them to buy properties at a cheaper rate in India," it said.

The survey added that 26.7 per cent NRIs are looking to buy properties as additional investment, a sharp rise of 6 per cent in one year.

"NRIs in the UAE mostly prefer investing in property as it is one of the safest option and gives good return as the capital value of any property appreciates," Sumansa Exhibition CEO Sunil Jaiswal said.

"Plus, there is always feeling of returning home, since NRIs don't get citizenship in this region. So, property investment becomes natural choice. We can support this further as the survey also reveals that Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi feature in the top five destinations list," he said.

This shows that they are looking for cities which will give them good returns, he said.

"Even if the NRI takes home loan, his payouts are much cheaper as compared to last year. Hence, overall investing in this sector when rupee is low, makes sense," Jaiswal added.

A representative of Indiabulls said with rupee depreciating in the past couple of years, there has been a good amount of remittance going back to India. Additionally, the bank deposits have also started yielding good returns making that as a good investment alternative.

"However properties continue to be a preferred choice for expat Indians for investment and asset creation. What they look for is a good brand to invest and a price point which is good to enter. For NRIs, a reputed developer with good track record, quality and possible price appreciation is an important factor," he said.