Govt may propel India to score high on realty transparency

India, which scores the lowest in transparency in real estate transactions in the Asia Pacific, is likely to be in a stronger position in future, mainly due to economic reforms that the new Narendra Modi-led government may take, says a survey.
According to 'Global Real Estate Transparency Index' survey conducted by property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), among Asia Pacific countries, India is among the lowest in transparency due to high costs of investment transactions and weak professional standards for local agents.
"However, the country could see faster improvements in real estate transparency in the future following the election in May of the first majority government in 30 years. The new government will undoubtedly be in a stronger position to push through economic reforms," the report said.

JLL said that as the government this year is likely to enact the Real Estate Regulation Bill, which seeks to improve regulation over real estate agents and the quality of land registry records, the country is expected to see faster improvements in transparency.
JLL has surveyed 102 markets worldwide and over 80 per cent of these regions have registered improvement since 2012.
The consultant has not provided India's position among the 102 countries but said the UK and the US have topped the rankings as the first and second highest transparent realty markets respectively in the index.

India has seen moderate improvements in overall transparency scores for Tier I and II cities (mainly in market fundamentals) and limited gains for Tier III cities, the report said.

"The primary cities in India have shown modest improvements in transparency over the past two years, mainly due to advancement in market data availability," JLL Director - Global Research Jeremy Kelly said.
"Progress has nonetheless been the strongest in the Asia Pacific region, with Indian cities starting to make up for lost ground against other BRIC markets, where progress has been weaker. We expect momentum in transparency improvements to build over the next two years," he added.