Mangaluru: The ongoing West Asia crisis is creating both opportunity and stress for Mangaluru’s real estate market, given the city’s strong links with Gulf-based investors and homebuyers.Industry experts said housing demand could rise if expatriates from Gulf countries return in large numbers. However, developers and realtors said buyers employed in the region are already facing payment-related difficulties.DB Mehta, president-elect of Credai Karnataka, said the district had seen a similar trend earlier. Recalling the Iraq-Kuwait war, he said many Mangalureans living in Kuwait returned home, leading to a sharp rise in real estate demand. Property prices increased from about Rs 500 per sq ft to Rs 1,500 by 1995, he said. The return of expatriates also introduced high-rise residential buildings in Mangaluru. “It was only layout culture before that,” he said.Mehta said a similar trend could recur if the current crisis deepens and leads to a prolonged return of expatriates from Gulf countries.He said investor sentiment has also shifted. Investors from India, especially from the Mangaluru region, had invested heavily in Gulf real estate, particularly in the UAE, viewing it as a secure, high-return market. The present uncertainty has shaken that confidence, he said. According to Mehta, several investors who entered the Gulf market after the Covid-19 pandemic are now reconsidering their investments and looking at India as a safer option. He said many investors he recently interacted with were in a state of panic.Realtors K Shrinath Hebbar, managing director of land trades, and Rohan Monteiro of Property Corporation said that some Mangaluru homebuyers employed in Gulf countries are struggling to arrange funds and keep up with payments, which is affecting the local market.Another realtor said buyers from the Gulf who are in the process of purchasing apartments or building houses in the district may now reconsider their plans due to the uncertainty.
