Commercial, retail realty rentals rise 10% in 3 yrs: Report

Average rentals of Grade A retail and commercial properties increased by 10 per cent in the past three years on steady increase in demand, said a report.

Vacancy rates stood low at around 5-10 per cent over the period, rating agency Crisil said in its report.

"Typically, well managed, high-quality properties with average tenancy of around three years and stable occupancy of around 90 per cent provide good cash-flow visibility," said Sachin Gupta, senior director, Crisil Ratings.

Established track record of the commercial and retail real estate sector, greater presence of global private equity funds and improved quality of management gives higher confidence regarding the stability of this sectors' cash flows, the report said.

Crisil said the credit profile is supported by the low cost of debt funding available for these high-quality real estate assets, which is reflected in the reducing spreads for loans to these assets by 75-100 basis points over the bank benchmark rates.

"Such a milieu would continue to draw investors to this realty segment over the medium term, especially private equity funds and property managers," the report said.

Apart from better management of assets, these players bring in improved financial discipline with structured escrow accounts and reduced cash-flow leakages, it added.

The rating agency analysed high-grade commercial and retail properties spanning over 23 million sq ft that it rates for the report.