Capital inflow picture in a flux due to tariffs, real estate has underlying strength: CBRE

CBRE's Rami Kaushal said that the picture on capital inflows into real estate will hinge on tariff talks between India and the US

Rami Kaushal, real estate consultancy CBRE's managing director for consulting and valuation services in India, Middle East and Africa, said in an interaction with Moneycontrol that while the domestic real estate sector has "underlying strength" to attract enough capital flows, the overall situation remains fluid due to reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US, and the outlook hinges on where India stands after ongoing negotiations with the US.

"It depends on what the final outcome is (the impact from tariffs). If the world realigns its supply chains due to the tariffs, then the logistics and industrial demand will depend on where manufacturing is moving. If India is a beneficiary due to the China plus one strategy playing out, we will be in a relatively stronger position. But that is a conjecture or speculation right now... Currently, we are in a state of flux," Kaushal said.

He added that capital inflows, from private equity or otherwise, "depend on the underlying strength of the sector". He said, "India has a lot of appetite for real estate. If the projects and the market remain viable, capital will definitely flow in."

Kaushal was speaking on the sidelines of the CII-CBRE BFSI Summit in Mumbai, where the consultancy released a report on the financial landscape in India's real estate sector.

The report found that India's real estate sector—residential, offices, retail and logistics—collectively attracted equity investments of around $11.4 billion in 2024, with industry estimates pinning 2025 investments in the $10 billion to $15 billion range. Most of the investments were directed towards three major markets—the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, National Capital Region and Bengaluru.

CBRE's report also noted significant activity in land acquisition across India for greenfield developments, with developers spending nearly $12 billion from 2022 to 2024 to acquire more than 7,000 acres of land, ensuring a strong pipeline of projects across various segments, particularly the residential sector.

In 2024, developers and asset managers pulled in substantial capital from equity markets in order to fund expansion and business development initiatives, CBRE said. During the previous calendar year, Indian developers and real estate asset owners raised nearly Rs 24,000 crore through various channels such as qualified institutional placements (QIPs), initial public offerings (IPOs), among other measures, including the first small- and medium-scale real estate investment trust (SM REIT).

The CBRE paper also noted the growth in private credit from alternative investment funds (AIFs) and other financial institutions that offer various forms of finance, including structured debt, and measures such as lease rent discounting (LRD) where rent receipts are used as collateral.

However, the report also noted that cheap and accessible credit remains a challenge for non-Grade A developers, due to collateral issues and risk perception, while Grade A developers can typically access construction finance for rates in the range of 8.5 percent to 9 percent.