September 11 has caused a renewed interest amongst non-resident Indians to build a nest back home. The country's leading real estate developers disclose that queries as well as bookings from NRIs have increased manifold in the last couple of months. Most of the inquiries are coming from first generation US Indians.
Thus, Delhi-based DLF Ltd has seen bookings by NRIs go up by at least three times in the last two months. Says T C Goyal, managing director of DLF Universal: "We are getting thousands of queries every month and all of them are looking at a property not for investment but a place for them to live if they have to shift".
Mumbai-based Hiranandani Construction too has seen a spurt in NRI bookings.
"NRI interest had come down with prices falling by 40-50 per cent. But the interest now is much more, though it is still not so good as 1993-96," says Hiranandani Constructions managing director Niranjan Hiranandani.
Delhi-based Ansal Properties has seen a doubling of NRI queries after September 11. According to API Group chairman Sushil Ansal, most of these are serious inquiries which should result in bookings.
And in Bangalore, NRIs are pushing up the demand for residential premises in the city. Says Prasad Vijayapuram, general manager, marketing, Brigade Group: "Though the commercial segment is not doing well at all in the city, the residential segment is looking up with many NRIs purchasing property back home. NRIs don't know what is going to happen next and are purchasing property in case the situation worsens."
There is another aspect to the renewed NRI interest. A large chunk of the upscale property developed in the country was lying unsold as there were few takers. As a result, developers like the API Group had embarked on a strategy to focus on middle-income housing. Things could be different now.
Says Ansal: "Before the attacks, the interest of the buyers at large was restricted to middle-income housing for the salaried class. For instance, there was virtually no demand for houses in the Rs 50-60 lakh bracket. But now there are a lot of inquiries for such houses from NRIs."
But will the NRI bookings result in real estate tycoons like Ansal ride the gravy train? Not really, says Hiranandani.
"NRIs account for about five per cent of the properties we develop. The overall impact won't be that significant," he says. Others are hoping the tail will wag the dog.
