India’s Real Estate Sees Record ₹31,980 Crore Investment in First Half of 2024: Cushman & Wakefield

India’s real estate sector attracted a record ₹31,980 crore (USD 3.9 billion) in investments during the first half of 2024, according to the latest Capital Market Beat report from Cushman & Wakefield. This marks a 39% increase from the same period last year, with the second quarter alone bringing in ₹22,770 crore (USD 2.77 billion)—1.5 times higher than the first quarter.

Delhi-NCR led the way, attracting ₹4,256 crore (USD 532 million) in private equity investments in the second quarter, making up 19% of the total investments. For the first half of 2024, Delhi-NCR maintained its lead, securing ₹5,204 crore (USD 633 million). Most of these funds were directed toward office spaces, with a significant portion also going into luxury residential properties.

Bengaluru followed Delhi-NCR, accounting for 13% of the total investments with ₹4,172 crore (USD 509 million), while Hyderabad attracted 8%, amounting to ₹2,624 crore (USD 320 million). Multi-city deals, where investments are spread across several regions, represented nearly half of the total investment volume, amounting to ₹15,342 crore (USD 1.86 billion).

The logistics and industrial (L&I) sectors dominated the investment landscape, making up 56% of all real estate investments in the second quarter, with ₹12,777 crore (USD 1.54 billion). These sectors continued to lead in the first half of the year, taking in 41% of the total investments. Office spaces came next, attracting ₹7,539 crore (USD 924 million) in the second quarter and ₹9,768 crore (USD 1.2 billion) in the first half. Residential properties ranked third, with ₹2,545 crore (USD 309 million) in the second quarter and ₹8,184 crore (USD 1 billion) over the six-month period.

Foreign investors played a major role, contributing over 76% of the investment volume in the second quarter. Most of their funds went into logistics and industrial properties. The report also highlighted that a mix of equity and structured debt deals made up 62% of the total investment, while pure equity deals accounted for 25%.

Beyond real estate, India’s overall economy also saw growth. The manufacturing sector expanded by 9.9% year-on-year, while the services sector grew by 7.6%. GST collections in June 2024 were up 8%, indicating strong domestic transaction volumes.

Somy Thomas, Managing Director of Valuation & Advisory and Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield, said that private equity inflows for the first half of 2024 had already surpassed 70% of last year’s total. He attributed this to infrastructure investments and strong demand for office and residential spaces. Thomas expects the positive momentum to continue, with private equity investments likely to exceed earlier predictions by the end of the year.