IF you are planning to buy property in India, wait: prices are likely to fall with the stock-market plunge. And if you are selling, do it now before what market watchers fear could be an imminent bloodbath. For a good many Indian expatriates in Saudi Arabia, property investment has been their nest egg, with return on investments made eight to 10 years ago having soared as much as four to 10 times depending on location. Already this week, there was a sharp correction in real estate stock prices, even though most builders have cornered enough bank capital and there is still a lot of private-equity faith in the sector. The near-term risk is that real estate is an interest rate-sensitive sector, since most people buy on loan. Considering that inflation is already at 8 percent and threatening to rise to 9.5-10 percent – given recent fuel-price hikes – there's every chance of monetary tightening and rise in interest rates. For now, the Indian real estate balloon is still afloat despite the sharp price correction this week. The sector is under tremendous pressure, some analysts fear, because unless it corrects itself as sharply as the overall market, other sectors will not be in a position to rebound. That said, the fact remains that real estate is all about location, location and location and that when times are hard, capital nearly always flows into realty and gold.
