Average office rents across the top six cities in India have breached pre-pandemic levels for the first time in 2024, according to a report released by property consultancy Colliers on October 23.

The report highlighted that certain cities such as Hyderabad and Pune achieved pre-pandemic rental levels in 2022 itself and while Bengaluru and Chennai breached 2019 rental levels in 2023, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai completed the recovery cycle finally in 2024.

Pune, along with Pimpri-Chinchwad, witnessed a significant surge in registered home sales value for the July-September quarter of 2024, as reported by Square Yards.

Based on data from the Inspector General of Registration (IGR), the city’s home sales value jumped 19 per cent year-on-year (YoY), reaching ₹13,865 crore.

Mark Mobius, an emerging market expert and an ace investor, reiterated he was bullish on India's real estate and semiconductor sectors, as he outlined the potential of these two key industries.

Speaking at the NDTV World Summit 2024 on Monday here in the national capital, Mobius, Chairman of Mobius Emerging Opportunities Fund, said that the standard of living in India is going up and he believes it will create new demands for real estate.

Buying a home is the first preference of Millennials and Gen X in India. Millennials are people born between 1980 and 1996. Gen X people are born between 1965 and 1980. These two categories are the highest income earners, and their future investment plans include buying a home as a top priority.

India’s real estate sector is evolving beyond traditional residential projects, with two promising segments — senior living and kid-centric housing. These markets, driven by changing demographics and lifestyle needs, offer developers new opportunities and provide residents with homes designed for their specific life stages.

Senior Living Communities

In line with the trends seen in tier 1 cities, housing sales in top-30 tier-2 cities fell by 13 per cent in the July-September 2024 quarter and new launches declined 34 per cent, according to a report by NSE-listed real estate data analytics firm PropEquity.

Housing sales fell to 41,871 units in Q3 2024 against 47,985 units in the same period last year while launches fell to 28,980 units in July-September quarter of 2024 from 43,748 units in the same period last year, the report said.

Institutional investments in the Indian real estate sector increased 31 per cent year-on-year to USD 4.61 billion in January-September 2024 amid strong consumer demand, according to Vestian. Real estate consultant Vestian on Monday released its report on 'Investment in Indian Real Estate', observing that funds' inflow from institutional investors in the first nine months of 2024 has already surpassed the total for 2023.

In line with the Government of India’s vision of providing “Housing for All,” the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is actively implementing the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). Launched in 2015, PMAY is a flagship scheme that aims to make housing more affordable and sustainable for the urban poor. As part of this initiative, the Konkan Board is playing a crucial role in constructing Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Low-Income Group (LIG) tenements in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

Kanjurmarg-Mulund-Bhandup belt, considered to be an industrial powerhouse till recently in Mumbai, now swiftly is becoming a luxury housing center. Over the last few years, the area has witnessed a huge surge in demand for high-end residential properties, primed by a mix of infrastructure development, state-of-the-art projects and changing land use. What was considered merely an industrial zone is now in the prime destination for luxury living spaces.

Infrastructure: The game changer

This festive season offers real estate investors a chance to investigate fresh growth opportunities. As we approach this joyous time of year, the real estate market offers stimulating investment prospects that may satisfy a wide range of investor tastes. The festive season is a convenient chance to invest in fractional ownership of commercial real estate in India. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in India and other festive celebration-related investment alternatives are just around the corner.