Real estate stocks in India are the most expensive in the world even as they give lower returns than most of the emerging as well as developed markets including China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

The revelation has come in the backdrop of a seven-year bull run in the global property stocks coming to an end in the second quarter of 2007, although emerging markets bucked the trend, according to second-quarter review of property sector by international investment services firm Standard & Poor’s.

A comparison of price to earnings ratio of stocks from various countries showed that valuation of property stocks from the US and UK moved lower, while those from emerging market continued to grow.

P/E ratio is considered as valuation benchmark of a stock where a higher ratio indicates an expensive stock while lower P/E signifies a cheaper stock.

P/E ratio for Indian stocks for the trailing 12 months was highest among all countries, while return on equity (ROE) was second lowest among all emerging markets and lower than most of the developed markets.  More