This is a result of a questionnaire survey of participants at the NAR India Convention during October 24 to 25, 2018.  It would give the view on Indian economy and real estate markets as well as booming sectors in India and the like.

Dr.Sopon Pornchokchai, President, Agency for Real Estate Affairs and President, FIABCI Thai attend the annual NAR India Convention by the invitation of Mr.Farook Mahmood, Chairman of the Organizing Committee during October 24 to 25, 2018 in Bengaluru.  This convention was the largest gathering of real estate brokers as well as developers, financiers and related property specialists. 

A questionnaire survey was conducted by Dr.Sopon in order to understand the real estate markets of India.  The questions asked including

1. What do you think about the economy in India?

2. What do you think about property markets in India?

3. Which sectors of real estate are among the best in 2018?

4. Which are most active cities in real estate developments in India

5. Which are best performing property developers in India?

6. If you can buy properties abroad, which country will you go to buy?

7. If the credibility of medical doctor is 10=best, what do you rank these?

Out of the 800 participants, some 200 were interviewed.  The following are the results:

Considering, Indian Economy, it was assessed t 6.57 out of 10 in 2018 and would be 7.35 in 2019.  This meant that the economy of India could be getting better in the future.  Similarly, real estate markets in 2018 was assessed at 6.61 which was similar to the economy and would be grown to 7.39 in 2018.  Therefore, both the economy and real estate markets were getting better over time.

 

The answers for which sectors of real estate were among the best in 2018 consist of Commercial sector (39%), Residential sector (29%), Land (subdivision plots) (8%), Industrial sector (7%) and Affordable Housing (7%).  That the Commercial sector led the markets implies that the markets were quite active.  A lot of economic activities were going on and developed.

 

The most salient city for real estate developments was Bengaluru.  It was the third largest city in India where this convention took place.  If it was excluded, Mumbai which was the largest city in India would be very attractive for investment followed by Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi and Chennai.  Many other cities were also mentioned.  Actually, India had 46 cities with population over one million (https://goo.gl/A1hE2N)

 

The Prestige group which had a headquarters in Bengaluru (https://bit.ly/2zku5SH) was the most voted one for the best performing property developers.  However it was mainly in Southern India.  The Sobha was also very big developer in India and Dubai.  It is the largest with three decades of experience. It is "a Rs. 28 billion company" in India (www.sobha.com).  Other major developers included DLF Home, Embassy, Brigade Group, Godrej and the like.

 

Among the participants, UAE was voted to be the most popular country to buy properties abroad.  Once, the estimated population of Indians in the UAE was 2 million. Indians constitute 42% of the total UAE population. (https://is.gd/TRm1jg), USA was the second in the priority.  Singapore was the third in the priority followed by United Kingdom, Canada and Thailand.  However, the choices were a diversity.

 

India has a long history of real estate brokerage services.  Many developers simply commissioned brokers to help them sell their properties instead of selling the properties they constructed themselves.  This was different from Thailand and many other countries.  This is an attempt to measure the credibility of brokers. 

If the credibility of medical doctor is 10=best, what do you rank these?  The answer was 7.22 or 72.2% in the case of brokers and 71.3% in the case of valuers in India.  This implies that the credibility of these two real estate professionals was acceptable.  However, if it was over 80%, it should be in a better position.  Perhaps, better controls of the profession as well as indemnity insurance to protect the public could be substantial tools to help uplift the credibility of brokers and valuers.

In sum, the economy and property markets of India were getting better over time.  It is the time for growth indeed.  Commercial sectors such as retail, offices and the like are growing substantially as well as the residential sectors.  Major cities for active developments were Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi-NCR, Chennai and the like.  There appeared some salient developers such as Prestige, Sobha, LODHA Group, Hiranandani and so on.  Six major countries for investment abroad were UAE, USA, Singapore, UK, Canada and Thailand.  The credibility of brokers and valuers as real estate professionals were accepted in the markets.