OPPORTUNITIES IN INDIA

THE real estate market in India is on a high growth curve, on the back of a booming economy, favorable demographics and liberalized FDI regime.

As far as investors are concerned India is currently one of the most exciting countries when it comes to real estate.

In a recent survey* the Indian cities of Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi emerged as the top three investors' choices for real estate investment in Asia. The survey also noted that investment interest in the region will continue to be robust this year with more confidence towards the retail and office property markets across the region.

Property consultants anticipate that there will be continued strong demand for both residential and commercial development based on the projected growth in the Indian economy. Analysts forecast that demand for additional commercial development alone will reach 63 million square feet across the country by 2009.

A recent Goldman Sachs report predicts that India's economy will be larger than Japan's by 2030 and that by 2050 India will be third largest economy after China and the US. India's population growth along with rapid economic expansion will result in a tremendous demand for high quality commercial and residential development and thereby provide a compelling opportunity for foreign real estate investors. The trends supporting India as the next "hot" real estate market are indeed promising.