Price no bar,FIIs raise stake in realty cos

NEW DELHI: The booming real estate market has caught the fancy of foreign investors as they have raised their stake in a majority of realty firms listed on the bourses although some analysts believe these stocks are among the most expensive in the world.

An analysis of the holding pattern of FIIs in 22 major realty firms shows a majority of them raised their stake in the April-June quarter as compared to the previous three-month period.

The FIIs increased their stake in 15 firms, including Unitech, Ansal Housing, DS Kulkarni and Indiabulls Real Estate. However, they decreased their holding in seven firms — DLF, Atlanta, Era Construction, Lok Housing, Mahindra Gesco, Madhucon Projects and Unity Infrastructure.

The share buying comes at a time when a few analysts believe that the country’s realty stocks are among the costliest in the world. Global investment services firm S& P has said real estate stocks in India are the most expensive and give lower returns than most emerging and developed markets such as China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.