Macroeconomic Signals and Indian Real Estate Firms

Purpose: India's real estate sector has been growing in size and influenced the country's economic growth. This paper studies the link between listed real estate firms in India and macro-economic activities and growth. Therefore, it examines the effect of rural production, foreign inflows, capital market growths, and money flows on the activities of real estate firms listed in the Indian stock exchanges. Methodology: The paper uses data of 65 listed real estate firms from 2001 to 2016. It uses a multivariate regression model to examine the relationship, and the effect of the rural economy, financial markets, international flows, and money flows on real estate firms. The regression models use firm-specific measures and different determinants of macroeconomic variables for the analysis. Findings: The findings suggest that macroeconomic variables signal a potential increase in the real estate industry's performance. An increase in foreign direct investment leads to increasing real estate activities. Personal remittances bring more revenues for real estate firms but not the stock returns of these firms. Capital markets growth has limited influence on this sector. Money flows, notably savings, positively affect the real estate industry. However, the rural economy does not significantly affect real estate activities. Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The study proposes that Indian real estate sector needs more transparent and regulatory structures to reap the benefits of the expected growth of the economy. Government should bring policies to capital market reform specifically towards real estate industry to generate interests among domestic and international investors in this sector.