India fastest-growing REIT market in Asia Pacific

New Delhi: India’s real estate investment trust (REIT) market grew 31% year on year in 2023, recording the steepest growth across the Asia Pacific region and emerging a strong opportunity for investors, a report by realty services firm Cushman & Wakefield indicated.

The introduction of Blackstone’s Nexus Select Trust, the country’s first publicly listed retail REIT, partly contributed to this outstanding growth in a year when the overall Asian REIT market declined by 7% to $252 billion.

“The positive outlook for office markets, with employees returning to work and large deals back in the market along with high occupancy rates in existing portfolios, further supports the growth of REITs in India,” said Somy Thomas, managing director, valuation & advisory and capital markets, at Cushman & Wakefield. “As more developers list their portfolio and institutional demand for high-quality assets continue in office and retail segments, the future looks bright for the REIT market in India,” he added.


The market in India is still nascent, with only four REITs. Initial public offerings (IPOs) of all the four, within the last five-year period, with high investor interest, indicating the product’s attractiveness to investors.

There are 225 active REITs across Asia. Traditional market powerhouses of Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong dominate with a combined share of more than 80% of the total Asia REIT market value.

However, the emerging Chinese mainland and India REIT markets, as the fourth and fifth largest in Asia, respectively, are adding new layers of opportunity and growth, the report said.

India’s strong performance highlights its emergence as a significant player, offering investors attractive opportunities for diversification and growth, it said.

Nexus Select Trust – which has a portfolio of 17 urban shopping centres across 14 tier-1 and tier-2 cities besides two hotels and three office assets – has witnessed a 30% rise in stock price in one year since its IPO. It plans to double its portfolio by 20 million square feet in the next five years through strategic acquisitions.

Top two office REITs – Embassy and Mindspace – have also given 9-10% CAGR returns in the last two years, reassuring the investors as well the trustees’ interest in the Indian REIT sector, the Cushman & Wakefield report said.

REITs are a global asset class that were first introduced in the United States in 1960 to allow retail investors to invest in commercial real estate in a liquid vehicle that was listed on stock exchanges.

Globally, there are 893 listed REITs with a collective equity market capitalisation of approximately $1.9 trillion (as of December 2022).

While India brought in regulatory guidelines for REITs in 2014, the product became a reality with the launch and listing of Embassy REIT in 2019.

Mindspace Business Parks REIT was listed on exchanges in 2020, followed by Brookfield India Real Estate Trust in 2021. Nexus Select Trust was listed in May 2023.