Hyderabad: Rating agency ICRA has estimated that the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) -ready office supply market has the potential to increase the office REIT market size by 6.0-6.5 times.
The REIT office supply has increased by 3.3 times in the last five years to 82 million square feet (MSF) across the top seven cities in India. REITs allow individuals to invest in large-scale, income-producing real estate. A REIT is a company that owns and typically operates income-producing real estate or related assets.
Giving more insights, Mr. Rajeshwar Burla, Senior Vice President and Group Head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA, said: “The REIT-ready office space is estimated at around 510 msf (53% of total Grade A office supply as of September 30, 2023).
With a cap rate of 8.0-8.5%, the REIT-ready office market is valued in the range of Rs. 5.8-6.2 lakh crore. This creates a significant potential for the Indian REIT market. Bengaluru accounts for 31% of REIT-ready office supply followed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Hyderabad at 16% and 15%, respectively.
ICRA has taken into consideration the top seven cities including Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, MMR, and Pune. To arrive at REIT-ready office spaces, ICRA has included developers with at least 1 MSF of Grade A office space across the top 7 cities with a minimum occupancy of 75%.
As of September 30, 2023, the total grade A office stock in the top six markets stood at around 956 MSF, with Bengaluru having the highest supply followed by Delhi NCR and MMR.
There are three listed office REITs in India currently – Brookfield India REIT, Mindspace REIT, and Embassy REIT, which account for 9% of the total office supply as of September 30, 2023.
“The occupancy of office REITs is healthy at around 84% and SEZ space accounts for 64% of the operational REIT portfolio. The occupancy for the REIT portfolio has been declining in the last 12 quarters due to high vacancies in the SEZ space, post-removal of direct tax benefits. However, the recent announcement by the Government of India to allow a partial and floor-wise denotification of IT-SEZs is expected to revive their attractiveness in the medium term and result in improved absorption,” Mr. Burla added.
ICRA has maintained a Stable outlook on India’s commercial office sector as India remains a preferred destination for global capability centers (GCCs). Favourable demographics, a highly skilled and cost-effective talent pool, and the availability of high-quality office spaces at competitive rentals would continue to drive demand for the Indian office portfolio in the medium to long term.
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