
The real estate sector in India is of great importance. According to the report of the Technical Group on Estimation of Housing Shortage, an estimated shortage of 26.53 million houses during the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) provides a big investment opportunity.
According to a report ‘Emerging trends in Real Estate in Asia Pacific 2011', released by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Urban Land Institute (ULI), India is the most viable investment destination in real estate. The report, which provides an outlook on Asia-Pacific real estate investment and development trends, points out that India, in particular Mumbai and Delhi, are good real estate investment options for 2011. Residential properties maintain their growth momentum and hence are viewed as more promising than other sectors. ULI is a global non-profit education and research institute.
Real estate or immovable property is a legal term (in some jurisdictions) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. Real estate (immovable property) is often considered synonymous with real property (also sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property (also sometimes called chattel or personalty). However, for technical purposes, some people prefer to distinguish real estate, referring to the land and fixtures themselves, from real property, referring to ownership rights over real estate. The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property.
In recent years, many economists have recognized that the lack of effective real estate laws can be a significant barrier to investment in many developing countries. In most societies, rich or poor, a significant fraction of the total wealth is in the form of land and buildings. In most advanced economies, the main source of capital used by individuals and small companies to purchase and improve land and buildings is mortgages -- bank loans for which the real property itself constitutes collateral.