LJ Hooker - Real Estate, India

LJ Hooker a magnet for Indian origin Australians returning home

India is starting to witness a sea change in the attitude of its migrants to Australia,” says Alexander Moore, MD of LJ Hooker in India.

No longer is Australia necessarily seen as the final destination and the land of milk and honey. Indian origin immigrants are starting to look back over their shoulder to the land they left, and what they are seeing is exciting them to go back and utilise some of the skills they have learned here.

He says statistics demonstrate why there is excitement about today’s India…..

• A population growth of 27 million people per annum (that’s over one whole Australia every year!)

• 75% of the population is under 35yrs of age, with a ‘mean’ age of just 25yrs

• Literacy rates are 87% for the under 20yr old segment

• Numbers of high net worth individuals (those with more than $1million USD of investment funds) grew by 51% this year

• A ‘consuming’ population of around 250 million people, giving an ‘aspirant’ class of 1 billion people. There are over 600 million cell phone connections in India today with only 10 million connected in 2003 – 60 fold growth in 7 years !

• A total population today of over 1.2 billion people and heading to be the worlds largest population by 2025

“Basically India has a young, dynamic population that is getting educated and connected.”

“A huge demographic dividend is starting to pay off in India, as this massive and vibrant young market (termed Youngistan by Pepsi) is starting to consume at levels that are unprecedented in the history of any world market.”

There are eight major tier-one cities in India, all of which have a population in excess of five million people - as high as 23 million for both Delhi and Mumbai, and some 50 cities with over one million people.

Young (under 30) entrepreneurs such as Mukul Chhabra and Dhruv Khanna have returned to India to establish LJ Hooker franchises.

After spending 11 years in Australia Mukul is the newest franchise owner in the India network with his office opening in Chandigarh, India’s only planned city (much like Adelaide in Australia).

Initially resident in Sydney where he studied, Mukul later moved to Queensland and worked with the LJ Hooker team at the Algester office in Brisbane, gaining the experience and desire that would take him back to India and the pioneering role of franchise owner.

The Indian residential property market is predominantly opaque and unorganised, with branded players such as LJ Hooker just starting to enter the space.

Says Mukul “After working with the LJ Hooker office at Algester I recognised that this was the right brand and the right time for it in India”

Mukul, like most of his contemporaries that have spent time outside the country, can see the explosive growth in the Indian market and they can clearly see the way that an organised branded player like LJ Hooker can capitalise on this.

Dhruv Khanna the franchise owner of the DLF Phase IV office in Delhi spent three years in Australia (also Brisbane) and like Mukul saw first hand how a branded organised company like LJ Hooker could dominate in the real estate transaction space.

Dhruv returned to India in 2007 after completing his MBA and was keen to get into business for himself. He recognised the tremendous opportunities that were available in the sector and after experiencing the dominance of LJ Hooker in Australia he was keen to partner with the brand in Gurgaon – one of the hottest markets in India.

Says Dhruv, “How many real estate markets around the world are growing at an average of over 30 per cent year-on-year ? This is the right time to be in the property business; Gurgaon is a great upcoming real estate opportunity and I had the good fortune to be a part of the LJ Hooker start up in India. ”

Mr Moore, who has 21 years of residential and commercial real estate experience with LJ Hooker, confirms that the Australian connection continues to be strong for the company in India.

“We have a number of potential franchisees with an Aussie connection, either directly or through a friend or relative. Obviously the strength of the brand and our 82-year-old reputation carry a lot of weight. People know they are dealing with a company that has not only great systems but also great integrity. We hope to welcome many more franchise owners like Dhruv and Mukul to the fold over the next couple of years.”

“And in 2025 who knows, India may well have both the world’s largest population and host the greatest number of LJ Hooker offices!” said Mr Moore.”