New Delhi, April 13 (FN Agency) Institutional investments in the country’s real estate sector slumped 55% year-on-year to US$ 552.1 million in January-March quarter (Q1) of 2024 as foreign investors stayed away from the market in the wake of global macro-economic uncertainties and geo-political tensions, property consultant Vestian said in a report on Saturday. As per the report, institutional investors had pumped in US$ 1,238.3 million in the real estate sector in the January-March period of 2023. Vestian Research data showed domestic investors infused US$ 541 million across multiple deals during January-March period of calendar year 2024. On the other hand, foreign investors invested only US$11 million during this period.
“Domestic investors are bullish about India’s growth story, continue to pour in investments in the real estate sector. On the other hand, foreign investors are cautious due to global macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions,” said Shrinivas Rao, FRICS, CEO, Vestian. The Vestian report said that commercial assets (office, retail, co-working, and hospitality projects) garnered the highest investments of US$ 232 million in January-March period (Q1) of 2024, closely followed by residential assets at US$ 225 million. “Despite an increase in the share of commercial investments to 42% in Q1 2024 from 39% a year earlier, they declined by 52% in value terms.
Similarly, the share of residential investments also increased to 41% in Q1 2024 from 27% in Q1 2023. However, investments declined by 33% annually in value terms. Investments significantly decreased by 73% in the industrial and warehousing sector in Q1 2024 over the previous year,” it said. Bengaluru dominated the institutional investments in Q1 2024 with US$ 299 million, followed by the National Capital region (NCR) at US$ 110 million. “Edelweiss Capital turned out to be the most active investor during the quarter with over US$ 300 million worth of investments across the asset classes and geographies,” Vestian said. Shrinivas Rao stated that the Indian real estate sector would garner increased investments in the coming months on the back of a strengthened economic scenario and robust demand.