EVENTS Review
HNI Indians look to Western market at inaugural event
Buyers braved the monsoon to snap up property at Knight Frank’s invitation-only event, organised for their wealthiest clients in Mumbai and Delhi
night Frank has had a busy month this June, hosting events in both Mumbai and Delhi. This is the first time they have hosted a single-event, multi- city exhibition, and the results were promising. OPP visited on day two of the event in Delhi, and spoke to Mona Jalota, Knight Frank’s Head of International Property Markets and Regal Sales. Unlike many other shows, Knight Frank mans all the desks and provides information on all the products that are on show, with no representation from the individual builders. Properties from the US, UK, Australia, Hong Kong and Malaysia were showcased at the event, with properties between US$500,000 and US$2 million. Knight Frank tends to be cautious in picking products. Not keen on getting involved in student housing projects, they also feel retirement living is a product that Indians are not culturally ready for. Markets such as Dubai were skipped over as they felt they were not a reliable investment at this time. The resulting events this month were handpicked investment products for a key demographic of high-net- worth individuals (HNI). The UK was the most popular choice, with Australia and Hong Kong close seconds in terms of the interest shown, especially at the Mumbai event. The Australian property showcased was in Queensland and Jalota said they had further interest in Sydney and Melbourne too.
K Safely under cover, Delhi’s metro station
Properties on the lower price spectrum were moving fast, while the US$1.9 million property on New York’s Fifth Avenue had less interest from the Delhi market.
If the event felt slightly muted,
that could be explained fi rstly by severe fl ooding in the city
In Mumbai, the UK was the most popular choice
caused by torrential rain, but also by Knight Frank doing a spot of fi ltering beforehand. For their Mumbai event, from a database of 10,000 potential buyers they invited just 250 of their high-net- worth potentials and met with 133 over two days. Mona Jalota was confi dent that 30-40% of the people they met will be converted
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to sales; and an even higher percentage in Delhi, where they had already met with more than a hundred clients when we visited. Buyers tended to be young professionals, looking to broaden their portfolios and tending to get mortgages against investments they already have overseas. Knight Frank tries to bring their clients products that have a two-year payment plan so they can bring two years’ worth of payments out of the country under RBI regulations (who have a restriction of removing up to US$200,000 from India per year). Often a husband and wife or a group of family members buy together and funds will be invested in all their names.
Just like the products on display, the buyers too were carefully selected by a large brand with lots of credibility. “People come here to get the right guidance, facts and fi gures. It’s why they come back to us,” says Jalota.
www.opp-connect.com
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