Global investors are approaching the property market with significantly longer investment horizons than domestic participants, shaping how risk, regulation, and market gaps are assessed, according to Aayush Puri, Head at Anarock.
While domestic market discussions frequently focus on delays, approvals, and near-term uncertainty, overseas capital is evaluating the sector through long-duration models that factor in volatility and execution challenges as structural characteristics rather than exceptional risks.
Time horizons influence risk perception
A key difference lies in investment time frames. Domestic buyers and developers typically operate on three- to five-year cycles, where delays or regulatory uncertainty can materially affect returns. Global institutional investors, by contrast, often deploy capital with horizons extending 15 to 25 years, allowing interim disruptions to be absorbed without altering long-term positioning.
Puri said this longer view places greater emphasis on underlying demand indicators. Ongoing household formation and steady urbanisation continue to support long-term housing requirements, while formal supply remains uneven across regions. From an international perspective, this imbalance is viewed as unmet demand rather than a market failure.
Lower mortgage penetration and limited institutional participation in rental housing and commercial assets are also assessed differently. While these factors often raise caution locally, they are interpreted by global investors as signals of future market depth and expansion.
Capital allocation seeing a structural assessment
Foreign investment trends suggest growing preference for operating assets over speculative land exposure. Capital has increasingly flowed into segments such as offices, logistics parks, warehousing, and data centres, where income visibility and asset formalisation are higher.
Regulatory changes are similarly evaluated through a long-term lens. Reforms such as mandatory project disclosures, insolvency mechanisms, and tax unification are tracked for their contribution to transparency and enforceability, even where implementation varies. According to Puri, international investors tend to focus on the direction of reform rather than short-term execution outcomes.
Differences in valuation behaviour also emerge during market slowdowns. Periods of domestic caution often result in conservative pricing, creating entry points for long-term capital less influenced by immediate sentiment. Over time, as assets stabilise and systems mature, these pricing gaps tend to narrow.
Demographic factors further support the long-term thesis. A young workforce and gradual income expansion continue to underpin expectations of sustained housing and rental demand, although formats and affordability structures may evolve.
Puri noted that the divergence between domestic and global perspectives reflects differences in analytical framing rather than access to information. While execution risks remain, international investors appear more inclined to price these into long-term assumptions rather than reassessing the broader market trajectory.