Quarterly GDP Growth Beats Estimates, Residential Sector Outshines:
India’s real GDP grew at 8.4% y-o-y as of the quarter ending December 2023, a 5-quarter high value as against 8.1% seen in the previous quarter. The growth was majorly driven by the manufacturing and construction sectors, which rose 11.6% and 9.5% y-o-y, respectively. Moreover, the manufacturing PMI rose from 56.9 in February to 59.1, which is a 16-year high value, driven by robust growth in both new orders and output witnessed since October 2020. The services PMI too showed growth from 60.6 to 61.2 in March 2024.
Residential sector dominated investment activity in Q1 2024 with 63% share in quarterly investment. In absolute terms, it is almost double the quarterly average for residential seen in the past 8 quarters. Almost 48% of investment in residential sector was focused on early stages of development across top-8 cities. Bengaluru emerged as the leading city commanding 25.6% share in investments, of which, 63% were allocated to the office sector. Among equity investors, the office sector continued to be the preferred sector, accounting for 43%, closely trailed by residential investments at 38%.
Q1 2024 marked moderate fundraising activity of USD 563 million, predominantly driven by the residential segment, contributing 93% to the total share. Embassy REIT plans to raise funds worth USD 400 million, earmarked for the strategic land acquisitions in Chennai.
