Realty records Rs. 40,000-cr funding flow

In an encouraging development of improving sentiment, private equity investments in the country's real estate sector increased by 26% and touched a nine-year high of Rs. 40,000cr, property consultant Cushman & Wakefield, said in a recent report, elaborating that Mumbai witnessed the highest share of inflow at 32% of the total private equity investments. The inflows in 2016 were seen at their highest at Rs.399 billion ($5.97 billion), registering a 26% increase from Rs.316.7 billion ($4.8 billion) in 2015. The number of deals closed during the year also rose only 5 per cent with 119 deals, whereby. an average deal size increased to Rs.3.4 billion ($50 million) from Rs.2.8 billion ($43 million) in 2015, signaling increased confidence amongst investors to make larger investments in the Indian real estate sector. Residential assets remained the most preferred asset class with over 52% of Rs.208 billion ($3.1 billion) of the total PERE witnessed in this asset class during the year, it claimed.