Real estate industry plays a significant role in high speed economic development of India. There is consistent increase in housing prices and scarcity of land resources. Retail investors do their investment for better prospects in future like wealth creation and economic growth. This research is based on a survey where customers from urban areas of Maharashtra gave their opinion on real estate investment. A structured questionnaire as an instrument of data collection was used. Results shows that investment decision in real estate by retail investors are influenced by many challenges like Land acquisition and registration, Price variation, growth in population, lack of clear legislation, Title deeds, Scarcity of land, property value, local land owners influence etc. Empirical findings inferred that there is a correlation between the challenges faced by the investors and economic growth of the nation.

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Keywords: Investment Decision, Real Estate Sector, Property, Population, FDI, GDP, Urbanization, Economy.