NRI

Beach property in Goa is particularly popular among NRIs and foreigners and is the hottest for real estate investment. Some of the most hunted areas for residential properties in Goa are Dona Paula, Baga, Calangute and Candolim where property prices are rising sharply. Similarly, prices of properties at other places are also moving up. As a result, it becomes all the more important to seek the acumen of property dealers in order to land up a profitable deal

An NRI can purchase property or real estate in Goa and India. You can buy residential property (apartments / flats / villas / bungalows / shops), but cannot buy farms / plantations / agricultural property.

Regulations regarding acquisition and transfer of immovable property in India by a person resident outside India have been notified vide RBI Notification No.FEMA 21/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000 as amended by Notification No.FEMA 64/2002-RB dated June 29, 2002, Notification No.FEMA 65/2002-RB dated June 29, 2002 and Notification No.FEMA 93/2003-RB dated June 6, 2003 and relevant directions issued in the form of A.P. (DIR Series) Circulars.

Goa is set to become the first state in India to appoint non-resident Indians (NRIs) to various boards and corporations.

Eduardo Faleiro, former minister of state for external affairs and currently Goa’s commissioner for NRI affairs, told, “Putting Goan expatriates on state boards and corporation is one of our various steps to reconnect them with their roots. When this happens, Goa will be the first Indian state to accord this honour to expatriates”.Faleiro said that Goa was also the first state to have started a scheme to issue ‘Goa Cards’ to NRIs to give them unhindered access to government departments. He said, “We will also be the first state in India to put NRI representatives from countries with a large Goan expatriate population on a high-powered committee to address their grievances. This committee, headed by me, will have high-ranking state officials, including district collectors”.

Goa is currently witnessing a strong trend of buyers looking at buying properties as second homes. People from the Gulf have more or less fulfilled their requirement in terms of buying second homes here; hence they are now looking at Goa purely from an investment angle. In Goa, returns on property investment are extremely slow in comparison to other markets like Mumbai for example.

These days we are getting a lot of inquiries and buyers from Europe and the UK, who are looking at spending their winters here in sunny Goa. They are also attracted by its low crime rate, relaxed westernized lifestyle and the good frequency of cheap, chartered direct flights to Goa from London. This segment of buyers, which earlier flocked to places like Spain, is now increasingly looking at Goa as a viable alternative because Spain is now becoming quite expensive.

 The tourism boom in Goa first began in the north sometime in the seventies. Demand in south Goa began to pick up much later with the coming of premium hotels like the Leela and more recently, Taj Exotica. The north is more developed and offers better facilities for people visiting Goa. Secondly, the north Goa belt from Sinquerim to Baga beach, which offers maximum activities, is not very long and is hence better connected than places in the south which has a much bigger coastline. People have much better entertainment, dining and shopping options in the north as compared to the south which also lacks infrastructure facilities.