Jan 27 (Reuters) - More than a dozen Indian real estate
firms have lined up plans for initial public offers to raise
about $6 billion, buoyed by an 81 percent rise in the Mumbai
stock index
last year and as property buyers return.
[ID:nSGE60Q0AK]Following are key facts about India's property market.
* The property market contributes 5-6 percent to India's gross domestic product, or about $50 billion annually to the $1 trillion economy, Asia's third largest.
* Total foreign direct investment in housing and real estate in India, since investment norms were first eased in 2005, stands at $7.7 billion, including $2.2 billion in April-November 2009.
* The Bombay realty indexunderperformed the main index last year, rising 70 percent after a slump in the first quarter, versus the market's 81 percent gain.
* The major cities of Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore have the most expensive residential property in India, with rates comparable to New York, London and Tokyo, due to limited land and the government's push to develop its services industry. Apartment prices have risen by around a third in some parts of India since hitting a low in the 2009 first quarter.
* The government, wary of an asset bubble forming, has warned that banks should be more cautious about risks in lending to property developers at low rates. However, little has been done yet to actually curb lending. [ID:nBOM58669]
* India is in need of a clearer property policy to better develop the sector, analysts said. Since 2007, the legislature has been drafting a bill to regulate the real estate market, but has met with resistance by developers and industry lobbies. (Reporting by Lee Chyen Yee in HONG KONG and Prashant Mehra in MUMBAI, Editing by Ian Geoghegan) (See www.reutersrealestate.com for the global service for real estate professional from Reuters)
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