MUMBAI FAVOURITE PLACE FOR UAE NRI's

Mumbai has emerged as the top Indian city for property investments by NRIs in the UAE with Bangalore being the second most popular, according to a survey. Mumbai retained the top spot with 31.86 per cent NRIs preferring to make property investments in the city, a recent survey on Indian properties by Sumansa Exhibitions, the organisers of the Indian Property Show in Dubai, said. Bangalore came in second with 24.35 per cent preferring to invest in residential property in the coming months, the survey said. Chennai and Pune jointly hold the third place with almost equal percentage of people preferring these cities. Delhi has the fourth position followed by Cochin, Navi Mumbai, Gurgaon and Hyderabad. "Bangalore's property market bucked the trend in other metros with many new launches, good demand and resilient prices. Sector experts predict that residential property in the city will remain a good bet for 2014, too," said Sunil Jaiswal, CEO Sumansa Exhibitions. "Bangalore is the third-largest real estate investment hub for High Net worth Individuals (HNIs) and tops the list in terms of investments from Non Resident Indians (NRIs) looking at settling down in India in the future", said Jaiswal. "With a high net-worth individuals population of about 10,000 the third highest in the country after Delhi and Mumbai Bangalore's super-luxury segment is also worth watching," he said. The property exhibition organised by the group will be held from June 12 to 14. According to the survey, 31 per cent NRIs looking for properties in the price range of 76 lakhs and above, 52.57 per cent look for mid segment range of 26-75 lakhs and demand for high end segment, 1 crore plus, is at 16 per cent. Residential apartments are all time favourite with 77.17 per cent interested in buying one, compared with villas or commercial property. The highest number of buyers is in the age group of 36-50 years at 67 per cent, the survey said adding that 72 per cent buyers aim for immediate purchase within next 6 months. More than 14,700 NRIs from across UAE participated in the survey.