According to a recent report by Knight Frank India, wealthy Indians prefer property ownership over tenancy. In the current scenario, high-net-worth individuals (HNI) with assets over $10 million, choose real estate investment.
Vivek Rathi, National Director of Research at Knight Frank India said, that affluent Indians prefer 22-25% investment in non-liquid assets. Interestingly, nearly 90% of them prefer property ownership within the country. He expressed his opinion at the launch of Knight Frank Wealth Report 2025.
Knight Frank India’s report shed light on the expansion of urban landscape resulting in better real estate projects. By far, HNIs (high Net worth Individuals), rose by 6% (80,698) from earlier years to (85,698) in 2024. While assessing the current trend, the number of HNIs will ascend to 93, 753 by 2028.
Rathi further said, “While HNWIs invest in prime real estate for personal use, some also allocate funds for capital preservation. In certain cases, we observe investments aimed at generating rental income.” The majority investments from HNI segment prefer tier-I cities including Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad and Chennai.
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Unlike capital appreciation, capital preservation is an investment strategy that cushions the original prime instead of focusing on return on investment. Furthermore, Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said, “we see majority HNWIs investing in countries like the UAE or the UK preferred for oversea investment.
Property Ownership preferred by Indians aged between 18-35 years with Income over Rs. 1Cr.
Property ownership is more popular amongst Indians according to Knight Frank’s Next Gen Survey. It shows that young and HNIs individuals earning over Rs. 1 Crore dislike tenancy and the number of these individuals is recorded at 89%.
In addition to these, 65% of HNIs plan to upgrade residential property by the next year. The young HNIs identify as future leaders and are enticed by luxury lifestyles including premium cars and immovable assets.
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Property Ownership gaining Popularity: Indian billionaires rank up to a tally of 191
According to the Knight Frank India report launched on March 05th, 2025, India is home to 191 billionaires. Interestingly, 26 new names joined the league in the last year. Thus, property ownership remains a big decision for young high net worth individuals. The record for the rise in Indian billionaires is seven higher than in 2019. A 12% yearly growth witnessed in the billionaire population will escalate to growth in the real estate business.
As per the report, India ranks at the fourth position with 3.7% high net worth individuals. However, the United States leads the tally with 805,413 HNIs, followed by China (471, 634) and Japan (122, 119).
In a consolidate manner, Indian billionaires hold wealth valuing approximately $950 billion. It stands that third position after United States ($5.7 Trillion) and Mainland Chain ($1.34 billion). With the increase in billionaires, property ownership gains momentum in the country.
