Not just the Gulf NRIs but also second generation Indian immigrants in London are now investing enthusiastically in a home in India, says a real estate expert.

"The response during our visit to London was a real eye opener with many people of Indian origin, some of whom had migrated to African countries and have since moved on to Britain, enthusiastically booking flats in places near their forefathers' place," said Zubin Mehta, CEO for marketing and exhibition activities at the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI).

"Trends are changing with many people of Indian origin, even second generation NRIs, opting to purchase vacation homes near their relatives' residence as they want to be independent during their stay in India and not stay with kith and kin. This trend has pushed up the demand for flats in Mumbai, Gujarat, Delhi and Chandigarh," Mehta told IANS.

MCHI is the joint organiser of a mega property show being held later this month in London by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI).

Enthused by the response to their first show in London last year, CREDAI is holding a three-day show May 28-30 to be followed by another show in Dubai June 1-3.

Dubai is proving to be a good market for property developers to showcase their projects with considerable demand basically from the working class eager to invest in a home of their own back in India.

"Around 50 percent of the NRIs, both in Dubai and London, seek housing loans, which are now available on easy terms," said Mehta.

CREDAI's India Property 2005 exhibition this year will see larger participation with 35 property developers and three banks wooing NRIs at London and as many as 60 exhibitors and five banks offering their services in Dubai.

The larger participation in Dubai is mainly due to exhibitors from Kerala for whom the Gulf market remains a predominant segment.

The stand-alone exhibitions will see properties from residential flats worth Rs.2.5 million to commercial flats and bungalows costing Rs.30 million and above.

With a successful off-take last year of properties in the Rs.15 million-plus bracket, several higher bracket projects in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Gujarat and Kerala are also being showcased this year.

"This is a good time for property investment. As against last year, there has been 10-15 percent rise in prices mainly due to higher construction costs with input prices of steel and cement escalating," said Mehta.

Besides residential properties, CREDAI members have found many takers for their commercial properties with multinationals using the services of Indian representatives to scout for suitable locations and properties for their India operations.

Despite India having allowed 100 percent foreign direct investment in real estate development, there was not much response from the NRI community, according to an MCHI study.

However, several overseas developers have now started looking more closely at the Indian market attracted by the potential. Some of these companies have already started stepping into the market mainly as architects, like P&T Consultants and Site Concepts International, both from Singapore.

--Indo-Asian News Service