Indians Buying Homes In The US

Quite a few resident Indians are becoming  global landlords by picking up  inexpensive houses in the USA. For these affluent Indians, the US real estate is a security blanket. Faced with what some of them consider  bubble real estate prices in major Indian cities and a sometimes jittery Bombay Stock Exchange, they are joining a wave of buyers from other countries who see the recovering US housing market as one of the best places to put their money in these days.

The most popular areas where Indians buy homes are in and around Silicon Valley, where technology firms heavily recruit from India; in the Boston and Philadelphia areas near universities that have numerous students from India; and in suburban areas of New Jersey and in Queens, where there are established Indian-American communities.

In an echo of the late 1980s, foreign investment in US real estate has taken off again. A survey from the National Association of Realtors estimates that from April 2013 to March of this year, total sales to international clients were about $92.2 billion, a 35% increase over the previous 12 months. The figure includes purchases by recent immigrants.Foreign buyers now make up 7% of total existing home sales of $1.2 trillion, according to the survey.Of those, Indians represent 6% of the purchases, spending $5.8 billion, up from $3.9 billion over the same period a year ago and on par with buyers from Britain.

Buyers from India are an eclectic group. In addition to affluent resident Indians investing their savings abroad, there are parents living in India who buy apartments for students attending college, making sure the units have concierge service and an extra bedroom so they can visit for extended periods. After the students leave college, the parents often keep the apartment and rent it out. It’s a good investment in their eyes, and it can be a better deal instead of them paying dorm costs or renting somewhere else. Such Indian parents generally spend about $600,000 to $800,000 on condos.Some buyers pay cash because traditional banks won’t give them mortgages without a credit history in the United States. But some realtors have created relationships with smaller banks that will lend money to such clients.

New Jersey is comfortable for many people just arriving from India or elsewhere in Asia because it resembles the highrise districts of Mumbai and Hong Kong. Plus, many building are close to the train station, allowing for easy commutes to New York city.