Hyderabad, Delhi, Bengaluru Top Choices For NRIs Buying Homes: Survey

Delhi and Bengaluru top the wishlist of NRIs or Non-Resident Indians buying homes, despite the alarming air pollution in the the capital of India and the inadequate civic infrastructure in the Karnataka capital, says a study.

According to the CII-Anarock Consumer Sentiment Survey — H1-2022, at least 60 per cent of NRI respondents said they would buy homes in one of three cities—Hyderabad, Delhi (NCR) and Bengaluru. Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) came a distant fourth on the NRI wish list.

The top picks for most NRIs in the survey for the first six months (H1) of 2021 were Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai.

While Hyderabad was the most preferred destination this year, with 22 per cent of respondents focusing on the capital city of Telangana, the National Capital Region (NCR or Delhi NCR) - the region surrounding Delhi - was preferred by 20 per cent. Bengaluru, the IT capital of the country, was preferred by 18 per cent of respondents.

Prashant Thakur, Senior Director & Head of Research at ANAROCK Group, said: "While domestic homeownership sentiment remains strong despite hardening home loan interest rates and property prices, the depreciating rupee value against the US dollar gives NRIs a distinct advantage."

Housing has seen a 15-20 per cent increase in NRI demand in the first nine months of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.

"As per ANAROCK Research, the January-September period of 2022 saw approximately 2.73 lakh homes sold in the top seven cities," said Thakur. "On average, NRIs account for 10-15 per cent of homes sold in any given quarter," he added.

The survey said that considering the recessionary dynamics in many countries brought on by the Ukraine-Russia war, many NRIs are now looking to shift back to India. They prefer premium properties priced between Rs 90 lakh and Rs 1.5 crore.

"In a major trend reversal, demand for 3BHKs has outstripped that of 2BHKs. As per the current survey, as many as 44 per cent of respondents prefer to buy a 3BHK while 38 per cent are looking for 2BHKs," the survey said.

For most NRIs, real estate was the best investment option, with 59 per cent of respondents finding it the asset class to invest in.