FCC

Commercial real estate more lucrative than residential

2022-09-06

Commercial real estate demand in India has risen, and is at its highest since the Covid pandemic. The return on investment (ROI) in commercial real estate is “comparatively higher than the residential market” and established players are actively seeking collaborations with local developers to launch new projects as joint ventures, said Ravindra Pai, Managing Director, Century Real Estate.

“In office space leasing, tech occupiers were key drivers of the aggregate market leasing activity in July 2022 with a 53 per cent share. Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) had a share of 18 per cent,” Pai said in an interview. The company is planning to foray into commercial real estate in FY23, along with eight new launches in the residential segment in the pipeline.

“In the years preceding the pandemic, the ticket size Rs 60-80 lakh was the sweet spot in Bengaluru. Following the pandemic, the industry is witnessing strong demand from Grade A players in the plotted segment in this price range, as well as luxury homes,” Pai said.

The other real estate asset classes that are attracting investors today are warehousing and data centres, which are seeing a steady increase in demand. “We foresee that more investments will be made here in the next 3-5 years,” he said.