To most non-resident Indians there’s no bigger yearning than wanting to be back in their motherland. The urge to spend the golden years of their lives back home is especially strong if you haven’t lived in your country of origin for a while. No surprises then that so many NRIs seek to invest in real estate in India that would serve as a home post retirement.
Apart from emotional ties, there are a lot of benefits that make investing in Indian real estate an attractive option for NRIs. In this post, we talk about some of those irresistible reasons.
Legal regulations
As per the Foreign Exchange Management Act, an Indian citizen residing outside India is permitted to acquire any immovable property in India other than agricultural/plantation property or a farm house by way of purchase, gift from an NRI or PIO or inheritance. The Act also has provisions that allows NRIs to transfer or sell immovable property in India. This makes investing in Indian properties significantly simpler.
Financial aspects
The falling value of the rupee against the dollar makes real estate investment in India a financially attractive proposition for NRIs. This coupled with the fact that loans are available for NRIs to utilize for real estate investment makes the offer almost hard to refuse.
Good RoI
Real estate in India is not just an option for NRIs who are approaching retirement in the near future. There are individuals who purchase property in advance and rent it out until they are ready to move in to it themselves. This is a great idea because in the current real estate market, one can enjoy reasonable increase in property value typically after 3-5 years. So the much-talked about slowdown in the real estate market isn’t a point of concern for NRIs.
REITs
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are a new asset class in the financial markets allowing NRI investors an option to capitalize on the growth in the economy without having to purchase a property. The introduction of REITs takes away the risks typically associated with investing in a property from a remote location such as trustworthiness of builders, having to grant PoA to another person and being unable to physically inspect the property.
Relaxed FDI norms
Relaxation of FDI norms in the real estate sector has opened up avenues for domestic real estate developers to consider joint ventures with international realty developers. When it materializes, such partnerships will encourage NRI investors with the assurance of clear paperwork and transparent financial dealing.
Real estate in India is a stable long-term investment option for NRIs. The current government has been taking the effort to make sure that the sector seems more promising not only for an investor but also for an end user. Given all these benefits, there’s no better time to invest into building a home in your country than now.
