Mumbai, Delhi among top cities in Asia Pacific for FDI in real estate: CBRE report

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Mumbai and New Delhi rank among the top 10 most preferred markets for cross-border real estate investment in the Asia Pacific region, a report said on Friday. While Mumbai ranked fifth after Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City, New Delhi was tied for the eighth spot along with Seoul, Osaka and Hanoi, according to the report by property consulting firm CBRE. In India, the total net buying intentions reached 3 per cent with developer, owner, operator, real estate fund and institutional investors displaying the strongest buying intentions. The report further pointed out that investor sentiment in India is driven by asset classes, including office, residential, industrial and data centres, the report states.

India recorded robust foreign equity investment inflows in 2024 calendar year, with countries like Singapore, the United States, and Canada dominating the foreign equity investments. These three countries cumulatively contributed more than 25 per cent of the total equity investments in the country’s real estate in 2024, the report said. Singapore accounted for nearly 36 per cent share of the total foreign equity investments, followed by the United States (29 per cent) and Canada (22 per cent). Investments from the UAE also witnessed a significant uptick throughout 2024 compared to 2023. Total equity investment in Indian real estate recorded an all-time high of $11.4 billion (9,83,34,69,00,000) in 2024, increasing by 54 per cent year-on-year, according to the report. Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO - India, South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE, said, "Investment in India's real estate market reached a record high in CY2024.

While the landscape was primarily dominated by domestic investors, foreign equity investments and a significant resurgence of capital deployment across asset classes by overseas investors stand as a testament to India’s growing prominence as a global real estate destination. “This trend is anticipated to continue with consistent capital flowing into both established and new sectors of the real estate market,” he added. Investors who are investing in Delhi and Mumbai are more inclined to look at value-added and opportunistic strategies which involve a higher risk/return profile than core and core-plus strategies. Those chasing value-add strategies in India will potentially explore core office products in tier-1 cities such as Mumbai and Delhi, while those looking at more development plays across these markets, with some examples including the acquisition of land sites for either residential (build-to-sell) development or data centre development, the report added. The survey also shows that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives remain the key focus for investors looking at new investments in India, with 56 per cent keen on acquiring or developing green buildings and 46 per cent of them looking at retrofitting existing assets.