New Indian budget realty exhibition targets NRIs with Dh3,000 salary

The first ever Indian budget real estate exhibition, for residential projects, which will bring affordable homes for NRIs with a salary of Dh3,000 and above, will debut tomorrow - May 20 - at Sharjah Expo Centre.
India Homes Festival, is a two-day exhibition, ending on Saturday. The organiser of the exhibition, SSG Events said that the show will display prominent projects with unbelievably low cost ownership schemes from major cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Mysore, Mangalore, Cochin, Thiruvananthapuram, Guntur and more. 

"Almost all the  real estate expos catering to Indians in the Gulf showcase luxury residential developments targeted at the affluent Indians in higher income brackets while the latent demand for low cost to middle income residential units is largely unmet. This is where India Homes Festival will bring a difference in bringing homes for low to middle income NRIs in the UAE for whom acquiring a residence of their own is a lifetime dream," said  Samiksha Naik, managing director of SSG Events Management.
Naik said that India Home Festival will be held twice in a year in the UAE and the second edition is already being planned for the end of this year. The expo will also be taken to other Gulf countries and global destinations where NRIs are present in large numbers.
"Through India Homes Festival, we are aiming to provide value to both our stakeholders  such as visitors and exhibitors. It is an unmatched platform for exhibitors from all over India to reach out and connect with a massive target audience who want to buy their own home in their home country or are looking for reasonable investment opportunities. We wanted to bring something on the table for the middle income NRIs who have the aspiration and willingness but are unable to realise their dreams due to high-priced projects," Samiksha said.
Besides showcasing reliable and reputed developers from major cities in India,  India Homes Festival will also provide support to buyers in terms of advisory from authorised experts  on home loans and the complete process of buying a home.
According to independent assessments affordable housing demand among NRIs in the UAE alone, including that for low cost housing would be around 40-50 per cent of the overall market. The quoting market reports, Samiksha said there is substantial demand for affordable homes among the approximately 30 million Indians living in 130 countries across the world and particularly in the GCC countries.
"A favourable exchange rate regime will also help low to middle income NRIs in the Gulf to buy properties in India and it is estimated that an average price range of Rs 25 lakhs is seen to be a median in this segment," said Samiksha. 
Quoting a recent survey by Cushman & Wakefield, she said that the estimated housing demand to be over 2.3 million units across major cities in the next five years - between 2011 and 2015 and currently the supply level is around one million units. Of the total demand in the top seven cities, the mid-ranged housing segment is expected to drive the maximum demand. - business@khaleejtimes.com