Jewelleries, real estate upbeat as rupee valuation falls

KOCHI: Fall in Indian rupee valuation against the US Dollar which is now hovering over INR 80 may not be a music to many ears. But for gold and real estate businesses in Kerala, the falling INR currency valuation is an opportunity to attract Non Resident Keralite (NRK) customers.

Reports confirm that NRKs are looking at the high exchange value rate for Indian rupee against USD as an opportunity to invest in the real estate sector and gold. Industry experts say enquiries from NRK customers looking to purchase a property in Kerala have increased in 2022 compared to 2020. “The NRKs are looking to take advantage. The fall of the Rupee is always a motivation for NRKs investors to invest in their home state and real estate has always been their safe bet. This is not something new. Whenever there is currency depreciation offering more value for their capital, they opt for investments ,” said a CREDAI (Kerala) official. 

Apart from mid-segment real estate builders, major real estate firms in Kerala like Skyline, Asset, and Confident Group have lined up marketing campaigns to attract NRK customers. According to a recent Reuters report, “real estate sector has gathered momentum for the coming few years with prices of residential units expected to increase by 7.5% in 2022, and by around 6% in 2023 and 2024. ”

Kerala has a strong migrant population settled in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Australia, UK, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Though the NRKs prefer for real estate investment largely focusing on business hubs such as Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, of late there has been a shift in preference to towns like Kottayam, Kannur and Thrissur.  Also when it comes to gold, it has been NRKs first choice of purchase whenever they have a strong capital. Families of NRKs back home always prefer buying gold as the easiest and safest investment option.