After three post-pandemic years of an upcycle, it was a mixed bag for the realty sector in 2025, with sales volumes in the residential real estate moderating across top cities, and commercial real estate and institutional investments emerging as standout performers. Residential: Volumes soften, value holds firm.
Currently, India has five publicly listed Reits: Brookfield India Real Estate Trust, Embassy Office Parks Reit, Mindspace Business Parks Reit Nexus Select Trust, and Knowledge Realty Trust.
Institutional investments in Indian real estate are estimated to decline 37 per cent to $3.06 billion during the first half of this year on global economic uncertainties, according to JLL. Real estate consultant JLL India data showed that institutional investments in Indian real estate are likely to fall to $3.06 million in the January-June period this year as compared to $4.89 billion in the year-ago period.
With the rise in elderly population and increasing interest around the segment by developers, the senior living industry is poised to reach a market size of $8 billion by 2030 from the current $1.8 to $2 billion, according to a report by Association of Senior Living in India (ASLI) and JLL.
The total leasing of office space, which comprises demand for all grades of buildings, rose 93 per cent year-on-year in January to 3.2 million square feet across seven major cities, according to property consultant JLL India. However, the leasing fell 56 per cent, compared to December 2022, which had seen 7.4 million square feet office space absorption. In January 2022, the aggregate leasing activities stood at 1.7 million square feet.
Co-working spaces provider WeWork India is aiming for a revenue growth of over 20 per cent for the coming years, even as its initial public offering (IPO) with only an offer for sale (OFS) component gets valued at Rs 3,000 crore at the top of the price band. The IPO opens on October 3, a newspaper advertisement said.
Real-estate firms have welcomed the Goods and Services Tax Council's reforms, expecting better affordability for buyers, spurring demand. The council has reduced the rate on cement from 28 per cent to 18 per cent, while the rate on sand lime bricks or stone inlay work and granite blocks has been cut to 5 per cent from 12 per cent.
Institutional investment in real estate jumped nearly 9-fold during the April-June quarter to $1.35 billion, mainly driven by the inflow of funds in the warehousing projects, according to property consultant JLL India. In its 'Capital Markets Update Q2 2021', JLL India reported that institutional investors deployed $1,357 million in real estate during the second quarter of the 2022 calendar year as against a mere $155 million in the year-ago period.
Office space owners are looking at good times ahead as rentals are expected to rise due to demand for Grade A office spaces outpacing supply that has been sluggish due to construction delays, long gestation periods and developers' interests shifting to residential.
Data centres are increasingly becoming a key part of the real estate landscape, as reality firms - with rich expertise in land acquisition, construction and dealing with government approvals - are seeing them as opportunities to build long-term assets with continuous revenue flow.
While demand for sub Rs 50-lakh affordable housing prevails, market players cite increased land rates, escalated construction costs and low margins as key prohibiting factors.
Housing demand should improve nationwide after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the repo rate by a larger-than-expected 50 basis points (bps) on Friday, said real estate industry executives. The rate cut comes after housing sales in top Indian cities in the first quarter of 2025 dipped 28 per cent due to skyrocketing residential property prices and geopolitical headwinds, according to Anarock.
India's flexible (flex) office segment, having breached pre-pandemic levels, is thriving as corporates, startups, multinational corporations, and global capability centres (GCCs) expand in India, seeking low-capital yet Grade A plug-and-play facilities. In the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, the flex office segment continued to grow, with flex space leasing rising by 22 per cent to 2.2 million square feet (msf), according to Colliers.
Net leasing of office space is likely to rise by 41-49 per cent across seven major cities this year on a lower base and improved demand post-pandemic, according to JLL India. Net absorption or leasing of office space stood at 26.2 million square feet in 2021, and it is likely to be in the range of 37-39 million square feet this year across seven cities -- Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Nevertheless, the net office leasing will remain lower than the record absorption achieved in 2019 -- the pre-COVID year -- at 47.9 million square feet.
Institutional investments in real estate may fall 20 per cent to $4 billion during this calendar year because of a higher inflow of funds in 2020, according to property consultant JLL India. During the January-September period, the institutional investment rose to $2,977 million from $1,534 million in the year-ago period. "Unless some large portfolio deals are not inked at the end of the year, annual investments are expected to be in the $3.8-4 billion range in 2021," JLL said in a statement. Institutional investments managed to cross the $5 billion mark in 2020 due to large portfolio deals worth $3.2 billion during the last quarter of the year.
Enquiries indicate it belongs to an industrialist with links to a prominent cricketer.
Housing sales declined 23 per cent in April-June across seven cities compared with the previous quarter due to the second wave of the COVID pandemic, but witnessed an 83 per cent rise on an annual basis, according to JLL India. In its latest report, real estate consultant JLL India said that sales of residential properties stood at 19,635 units during April-June period of this calendar year. Sales of residential properties stood at 25,583 units in the January-March quarter of 2021, and at 10,753 units during April-June period of last year.
Net leasing of office space rose 32 per cent year-on-year to 4.39 million sq ft during April-June period across seven major cities, but fell 16 per cent compared to the previous quarter because of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, according to JLL India. The net absorption of office space fell 19 per cent to 9.63 million sq ft in the first six months of this year, the property consultant said. The seven cities tracked by JLL India are -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai.
Net office leasing rose by 8 per cent to 5.85 million square feet in the July-September period of this calendar year across seven cities on better demand from corporates and coworking operators, according to JLL India. Property consultant JLL India attributed the rise in net absorption to various factors such as better awareness about coronavirus, preparedness along with mass vaccination drive and unlocking of economy has aided in the revival of the office market. Net absorption or leasing includes fresh leasing in completed buildings and pre-commitments in buildings that become operational during the time being reviewed, and excludes exits/terminations, churns, renewals, and pre-commitments in future supply.
Hyderabad is perhaps one of the most affordable cities among all tier 1 cities of India.
'The Indian retail landscape is poised for a significant shift with the anticipated arrival of several prominent international luxury fashion brands in 2024.'
The outbreak of COVID-19 has adversely impacted the occupancy levels at hotels across 11 major cities, resulting in a decline of up to 29 per cent in revenue per available room (RevPAR) during January-March this year, according to JLL India. While occupancy level fell in a range of 5-17 percentage points, the RevPAR was down 13-29 per cent across 11 cities -- Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata.
JLL had shortlisted over 10 developers and Embassy was selected after a long due and rigorous process of due diligence.
the 2015 figure also showed how developers had absorbed some of the increased holding costs.
In the NCR region, a significant number of residential projects in areas such as Noida have been delayed because of disputes with regards to land acquisition.
15 to 25 per cent of property registrations in Mumbai come from redevelopment, with over 3,500 projects approved by May 2024.
The RBI's decision to hike repo rate will hit consumers' buying sentiment, but will have a moderate impact on housing sales in the affordable and mid-income categories, according to industry experts.
The RBI's decision to hike the benchmark interest rate will make home loans costlier and affect housing sales, especially in affordable and mid-income segments, according to property consultants. The RBI on Wednesday hiked the key benchmark rate by 50 basis points. Property consultancy firms Anarock, Knight Frank India, JLL India, Colliers India, India Sotheby's International Realty and Investors Clinic said that the RBI's move was on the expected line to control inflation and this would result in an increase in interest rates on home loans.
Rentals for office space in Mumbai rise around 5-10 per cent, says a survey.
The Enforcement Directorate late on Friday arrested Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal in a money laundering case linked to an alleged bank fraud of Rs 538 crore at the Canara Bank, official sources said.
Gurgaon and Bengaluru saw price appreciation of 52 per cent and 46 per cent, respectively, during this period.
Work-related stress can impact one's mental health. Which is why Saurabh Tiwari says he's fortunate that his company understands this and is doing whatever it can to help mitigate that stress. "My company provides opportunities according to my interest, and if anyone is feeling stressed or has additional workload, they can talk with their supervisor to resolve it," says the 31-year-old who's working from home for a Bengaluru-based IT firm. Not everyone's as lucky.
CREDAI-MCHI, a body of developers in Mumbai, has pegged the drop in sales booking at around 80 per cent in the February-March period this year. This is the second highest fall in residential sales in the past five years, after Q1, 2017, when the decline, due to the note ban, was 37 per cent.
Investing in such properties is high-risk proposition, as developers do not have requisite approvals. At a later stage, projects can be delayed or even shelved for lack of funds.
'Some buyers believe prices may correct in the future.' 'This is unlikely. Many developers are increasing prices amid strong sales and inflationary trends.'
"Property prices are sub-set of demand. We do not foresee any negative impact on demand. Hence, the prices will not come down," Jones Lang LaSalle India (JLL, India) Chairman and Country Head Anuj Puri said, when asked about the likely impact of housing finance scam on property demand and prices.
The Q3 office rebound growth was led by Bengaluru and Hyderabad, which together accounted for nearly 80 per cent of the net absorption in Q3.
Realtors are still flexible with buyers' demands.
Mumbai is also on the top-10 'improvers' list.
Leasing activities of office and retail spaces would not be affected much.
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