Indian real estate sector has witnessed high growth in the recent times with rise in demand for office as well as residential spaces.

The Private Equity Investments in India’s real estate sector, stood at US$ 4.2 billion in 2023.

The Private Equity Investments in India’s real estate sector, stood at US$ 3 billion in the first half of 2024.

India’s real estate sector saw a three-fold increase in foreign institutional inflows, worth US$ 26.6 billion during 2017-2022.

Exports from SEZs reached US$ 157.2 billion in FY23 and grew ~28% from US$ 133 billion in FY22.

In July 2021, the Securities and Exchange Board of India lowered the minimum application value for Real Estate Investment Trusts from Rs. 50,000 (US$ 685.28) to Rs. 10,000-15,000 (US$ 137.06 - US$ 205.59) to make the market more accessible to small and retail investors.

Construction is the third-largest sector in terms of FDI inflow. FDI in the sector (including construction development & activities) stood at US$ 60.53 billion from April 2000-March 2024.

Some of the major investments and developments in this sector are as follows:

• Foreign investors pump around US$ 3.1 billion yearly into Indian real estate, with a 37% YoY increase in foreign inflows in the first half of 2024.
• In July 2024, Bangalore emerged as the leading city in the Asia Pacific in having flexible office space stock beating Shanghai and Seoul, while Delhi NCR follows in second place, according to real estate consultant CBRE.
• In 2023, luxury home sales in India priced at Rs. 4 crore (US$ 481,927) and surged by 75%, doubling their share in total housing sales.
• In India's top eight cities, housing prices rose 7% year-over-year due to strong housing demand supported by persistent purchaser demand and steady borrowing rates.
• The Indian real estate sector witnessed strong private equity (PE) investments of US$ 1.92 billion in Q2 of 2023, demonstrating investor confidence in the market. According to the most recent Investment report from Cushman & Wakefield, this was 63% higher than the previous quarter (Q1 of 2023) and 60% higher than the same time last year.
• In July 2023, Delhi-NCR emerged as the third biggest city in the Asia Pacific in having flexible office space stock beating Beijing and Seoul, while Bengaluru retained the top spot, according to real estate consultant CBRE.
• Transactions for office spaces in April-June 2023, which totaled 14.8 million square feet, represented the highest quarterly figure recorded since Q1 2021.
• During the first half of 2023, institutional investments in the office sector increased by 2.5 times year-on-year, reaching US$ 2.7 million.
• In FY23, Delhi-NCR received 32% of the total private equity (PE) investment in the real estate sector.
• Sales in the luxury residential market scaled by 151% year-over-year (y-o-y) in the quarter from January-March 2023.
• Housing sales in top seven Indian cities stood at 1.14 lakh units in Q1 of 2023, an increase of over 99,500 units compared to the same period of 2022.
• In Q1 of 2023, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Chennai together accounted for two-thirds of quarterly demand. At 27%, flexible workspace was the biggest contributor to demand.
• As of June 5, 2023, 119.7 lakh houses have been sanctioned and 74.75 houses have been completed and delivered to urban poor under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U).
• Between January-July 2022, private equity investment inflows into the real estate sector in India stood at US$ 3.27 billion.
• Home sales across top eight cities in India surged 68% YoY to reach ~308,940 units in 2022, signifying a healthy recovery in the sector.
• Retail real estate segment attracted institutional investments of US$ 492 million in 2022.
• In the third quarter of 2021, the Institutional real estate investment in India increased by 7% YoY. Investment registered in the first nine months of 2021 stood at US$ 2,977 million, as against US$ 1,534 million in the same period last year.
• In November 2021, Ascendas India bought Aurum Ventures’ 16-storey commercial tower in Navi Mumbai for Rs. 353 crore (US$ 47 million), making it the largest deal of a standalone commercial tower by a global institutional investor during the past few years.
• REA India-owned online real estate company Housing.com tied up with online legal assistance start-ups LegalKart, Lawrato, Vidhikarya and Vakil in 2021 to offer legal advice and assistance to homebuyers.
• The top three cities—Mumbai (~39%), NCR-Delhi (~19%) and Bengaluru (~19%)—attracted ~77% of the total investments recorded in the third quarter of 2021.
• India's flexible space stock was likely to expand by 10-15% YoY, from the current 36 million sq. ft., in the next three years, according to a report by CBRE.
• To establish an investment platform for the Indian retail-led mixed-use assets, in June 2021, GIC announced to acquire a minority stake in Phoenix Mills’ portfolio worth US$ 733 million.
• In May 2021, Blackstone Real Estate acquired Embassy Industrial Parks for Rs. 5,250 crore (US$ 716.49 million) to expand its presence in the country.
• To expand into the Indian real estate market, SRAM & MRAM Group collaborated with Area CAS Developers and Infrastructure Private Limited (Area Group), and Gupta Builders and Promoters Private Limited (GBP Group) of India. It plans to invest US$ 100 million in the real estate sector.
• According to Anarock, housing sales in seven cities increased by 29% and new launches by 51% in the fourth quarter of FY21 over fourth quarter of FY20.
• Private market investor, Blackstone, which has significantly invested in the Indian real estate sector worth Rs. 3.8 lakh crore (US$ 50 billion) is seeking to invest an additional Rs. 1.7 lakh crore (US$ 22 billion) by 2030.
• In 2021, working remotely was being adopted at a fast pace and demand for affordable houses with ticket size below Rs. 40-50 lakh was expected to rise in Tier 2 and 3 cities, leading to an increase in prices in those geographies.
• In April 2021, HDFC Capital Advisors (HDFC Capital) partnered with Cerberus Capital Management (Cerberus) to create a platform that will focus on high-yield opportunities in the residential real estate sector in India. The platform seeks to purchase inventory and provide last-mile funding for under construction residential projects across the country.
• In March 2021, Godrej Properties announced it would launch 10 new real estate projects in Q4.
• In March 2021, Godrej Properties increased its equity stake in Godrej Realty from 51% to 100% by acquiring equity shares from HDFC Venture Trustee Company.
• In January 2021, SOBHA Limited’s wholly owned subsidiary, Sabha Highrise Ventures Pvt. Ltd. acquired 100% share in Annalakshmi Land Developers Pvt. Ltd.