After foreign institutional investors lapped up realty stocks in therecently concluded equity placements by property majors, India-focused privateequity players and Non-Resident Indians are loosening their purse strings inthe real estate space.

Delhi-based realty major Parsvnath Developers said on Thursday it has signed anagreement with realty fund Red Fort Capital to invest Rs 90 crore (Rs 900million) in its premium luxury project in Delhi, making it the first PE deal inthe housing segment in the June quarter.

SUN Apollo Ventures, an international property fund, picked up a 15 per centstake in Mumbai-based Keystone Realtors for Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) earlierthis year, after a long lull in the PE-realty space.

"PE is getting back in real estate as valuations have become reasonable,confidence is reviving and end-user demand is coming back. Though demand forpremium housing is down, investors and buyers are showing interest in goodprojects," said Anuj Puri, chairman of Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, aninternational property consultancy.

FIIs oversubscribed for stocks in the qualified institutional placements ofUnitech and Indiabulls and bought stake sold by the promoters of DLF, thecountry's largest developer, indicating a renewed interest by investors inproperty space.

In a separate development, Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry, a realtydevelopers' body, said on Thursday its twelfth India Realty Expo 2009 held inDubai saw 106 flats worth Rs 65.33 crore (Rs 653.3 million) being booked.

"Around 86 flats worth Rs 80.18 crore (Rs 801.8 million) are in thepipeline for NRIs when they come to India in July-August on their annualvacation," Zubin Mehta, chief executive of MCHI, said.

The expo evoked an encouraging response, with 2,700 NRIs visiting theexhibition during June 4-6, the release said. "The softening of realestate prices and home loan interest in India were the key reasons thatattracted a large number of NRIs during the expo," Mehta added.