PE investments in realty to reach USD 100 bn by 2026: JLL

With India emerging as an attractive investment destination, private equity inflow in real estate is likely to reach USD 100 billion by 2026, a recent survey says.
According to property consultant JLL, in the next 10 years, private equity inflow in the sector is likely to grow at 10 per cent CAGR to USD 100 billion by 2026, with tier 1 and 2 cities being the prime beneficiaries of it.
In the past 12 years (20062017) India has seen investments of USD 42 billion, while the next 10 years (20172026) is expected to see inflows to the tune of USD 58 billion, the report said.

"India's attractiveness as a global investment destination has been steadily rising. We have seen numerous measures that have created a positive economic environment, bringing in key factors like transparency, accountability and ease of entry into various sectors in India. This gives India a fillip in attracting capital," JLL India CEO and Country Head Ramesh Nair said.
He further said these initiatives would be the key factor for private equity to bet big on the sector in future.
"We will see the flood gates open the time REITs are listed in the market. This would give the developers an option to exit or convert their holdings in to tradable stocks, through income generating assets. Further, with the current size of the economy and its steady growth with GDP pegged over 7 per cent yearonyear for the next 35 years," Nair said.

Private equity inflows in for the last 3 years, between 2014 and 2017 in office and IT/ITES have risen by 150 per cent with a strong attraction towards office sector.

Though residential sector remained the highest invested sector, rise in the same period was just 5 per cent of total investment flows in pure equity, the report said.
"Debt structures dominate the fund inflows in the residential sector, which is key reason for why developers are overleveraged. This is on account of the general sluggishness in the residential markets and investors unwilling to take the downside risk," the study pointed out.

With increased transparency and regulations, JLL expects a return of equity to residential markets in 2018. Another key insight is that except office and residential, all sectors combined add up to only 30 per cent of total investments since 2014.
"Investors are yet to explore the possibilities of new asset classes which will show strong trends in the near future. Alternate assets classes such as retail, industrial, warehousing and alternatives will be promising," Nair said.
Private equity in the last few years has been concentrated on the cities of Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi-NCR.
According to the report, Mumbai witnessed the highest percentage at 31 per cent of PE investment, followed by Delhi NCR at 27 per cent and Bengaluru at 12 per cent. The tier 2 and other markets have seen limited activities and attraction of private equity funding.