MahaRERA, the authority under Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, in Maharashtra, has blacklisted 644 housing projects in the state for not meeting project deadlines. The authority has prohibited them from being sold, advertised or marketed in the state. These projects were supposed to be completed and handed over to homebuyers in 2017 and 2018. Even though most of the projects are being developed by local developers, one big name on the list is Lavasa Corporation promoted by HCC whose registration expired in 2017.
'The rising cost of construction, the cost of doing business, high compliance, and inflation/interest rates going up have already reduced returns to single digits.'
Analysts, however, suggest investors remain selective on realty stocks and buy only where there is revenue visibility and a credible promoter backing.
Mumbai Metropolitan Region recorded housing sales of nearly 9,200 units in Q3 of calender 2020, against 3,620 units in the preceding quarter, registering a 1.5 times growth which is the highest growth seen any city except Chennai.
Despite a 56 per cent fall in residential launches in the first half of the year compared to the second half of 2019, Anarock Property Consultants believes that consolidation in residential real estate is expected to gain ground, and that branded players may garner a market share of 75-80 per cent.
About 7 per cent was priced between Rs 3 crore and Rs 5 crore, 22 per cent priced between Rs 5 crore and Rs 8 crore, and 15 per cent above Rs 8 crore.
The NCR and the MMR together account for 77 per cent of 10 big housing projects stuck because of developers' bankruptcy or litigation.
'After Covid, people started looking for bigger houses with pools and landscaped gardens.' 'Even middle class buyers are looking at plots of land in smaller towns.'
Indian rupee, which earlier this week touched an all-time low, is likely to remain under pressure and may test new levels as a fallout of the US Federal Reserve indicating more interest rate hikes, experts said. The aggressive rate hikes will dampen demand and increase the possibility of a recession in the US. This could accelerate the pace of capital outflows, weaken the rupee and raise the threat of imported inflation.
Despite the Sensex's 74 per cent run-up over the past year, the Indian equity market could still reward investors if the expected revival in earnings materialises, according to market experts. Returns during the coming year are more likely to be in line with longer-term trends (the Sensex's five-year return is around 14 per cent). Several factors are expected to aid the market's performance this year.
There's no place like home, but even for the affluent buying one in India is difficult. On top of that, the coronavirus pandemic-now in its eighteenth month-has made life uncertain. A hopeful thing is buying a house looks alluring as loan interest rates fall below 7 per cent, their multi-decadal lows. The slow decline in GDP growth after demonetisation, followed by the economic shock caused by Covid-19 waves, has hurt us unevenly.
Shankar Prajapati, a 57-year-old potter in Dharavi, has given up hope of getting a bigger house for his family. He lives cheek by jowl in a hutment measuring 200 square (sq.) feet (ft) in the nondescript shanty town. "We have surrendered to our fate. We cannot wait forever for better accommodation. "Perhaps we are not meant to dream big," despairs Prajapati. Raju Korde, president, Dharavi Redevelopment Committee, and a local resident, agrees with Prajapati.
Typically, about four to six weeks ahead of the polls, activity in the property market picks up as politicians begin to pull out their money parked in real estate. But this time, it's all quiet till now in real estate so far.
'Do some profit booking and bring your equity allocation back to its original level.'
Leading property developers, such as Oberoi Realty, Tata Realty and Infrastructure, and Hiranandani, have turned to redevelopment of existing buildings in the expensive parts of Mumbai as a way of augmenting revenue. Experts estimate that Mumbai's redevelopment projects could be worth Rs 30,000 crore. As such, they are not new. What is new is that the big developers are interested in them. Leading the race is Oberoi Realty, which has set up a separate team for these projects.
After Maharashtra, analysts expect more states like Karnataka and Haryana to slash stamp duty rates. However, analysts, do caution that it's still a long road to recovery for the realty sector.
Many developers are facing financial challenges after the IL&FS defaults, after which non-banking finance companies - the major financiers to real estate firms - slowed disbursals.
Some of the country's largest listed real estate developers - DLF, Prestige Estates, and Puravankara - are foraying into the Rs 50,000-crore residential property market of Mumbai, where home prices are among the highest in the world. All of them are set to launch residential projects in the financial capital of the country, where the market is dominated by players such as Runwal, Lodha, and Oberoi Realty, among others. Leading the race is Prestige, which has lined up 6 million square feet (msf) of new launches in the city across Mulund and Byculla in the third quarter of this financial year (2021-22).
The key demand drivers -- such as low home loan rates and income tax sops, particularly for affordable housing -- that supported the recovery in H2 FY2021, remain in place and will spur recovery again, feel experts.
50% of south-central Mumbai's high-end apartments remain unsold. The reasons include rocketing prices and a demand-supply mismatch. Of the unsold stock in south-central Mumbai, 38 per cent comprise units sized above 2,000 sq ft carpet area - too high for even wealthy Mumbaikars.
In a base case, the consultant said that sales could drop 25 per cent to 1.96 lakh units this year from 2.61 lakh units in 2019 across seven major cities -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad.
At least 50,000 units of new residential property are set to come up over the next three years
The plot C-65 in the G Block of Bandra Kurla Complex was leased to Goisu Realty (a unit of Sumitomo) for 80 years by MMRDA.
India's GDP estimates for 2020-21 show that the economy is expected to perform much better than earlier projections by different agencies, indicating a sustained V-shape post-lockdown recovery, experts said. The first Advance Estimates (AE) by the National Statistics Office (NSO) has projected a contraction of 7.7 per cent in the real GDP during 2020-21. This was better than the projections by certain international agencies like the IMF and World Bank.
A recent report by Citi had pegged the total amount stuck in stalled projects across seven major Indian cities (Bengaluru, Mumbai Metropolitan region, National Capital Region, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune) at Rs 80,000 crore.
A trust deficit had been building between developers and their customers, with massive incidence of project delays and deviations. Compliance with Rera is an opportunity to revive buyers' confidence.
Mumbai's property markets, where prices earlier crossed Rs 1 lakh per sq. ft in South Mumbai, are seeing a 20-25 per cent markdown from last year's levels.
Christmas is a perfect time for most NRIs to travel back to India and include property buying in their schedule. Ahmedabad, Kochi, Ludhiana and Chandigarh are some cities that witness generous investments from NRI investors.
CREDAI-MCHI, a body of developers in Mumbai, has pegged the drop in sales booking at around 80 per cent in the February-March period this year. This is the second highest fall in residential sales in the past five years, after Q1, 2017, when the decline, due to the note ban, was 37 per cent.
With the insistence on data centres to be onshore, entities in real estate believe there is going to be a rise in demand for specialised Grade-A commercial spaces to set these up.
Unless security is given paramount importance, it is difficult for real estate activity to pick momentum in J&K.
If you have been planning to buy a house, don't postpone your purchase. Developers are offering discounts, freebies and attractive payment plans.
The total wealth of top 100 real estate barons accounted for Rs 2.37 trillion ($32.7 billion) in 2018, up 27 per cent against 2017's cumulative wealth of Rs 1.87 trillion ($28.6 billion).
GST rates on under-construction houses maybe reduced from 12 pc with input tax credit to 5 pc without ITC. Similarly, the rate for under-construction affordable houses could come down to 3 per cent without input tax credit, from the current 8 per cent.
Mumbai metropolitan region, comprising Mumbai city, Navi Mumbai and Thane, leads the pack (in delayed projects) with 210,000 units at an approximate valuation of Rs 2.34 trillion.
SVAMITVA is a new government project that primarily aims to demarcate abadi areas that includes inhabitant land, inhabited areas contiguous to abadi and wadis/basties in rural areas, using drone surveying technology.
Growth in credit card outstanding has been the fastest compared to other personal loan segments
According to experts, banks have found better arbitrage opportunities in dollar terms in mature economies with mortgage and leverage rather than take equity exposure on Indian real estate.
'Some brands only lend their names to the property and take a royalty.' 'The developer only needs to adhere to the terms and conditions of the contracts.' 'But branded apartments from Trump are particular about every small detail.'
Shapoorji, Kalpataru, Godrej pursuing Rs 60,000 crore opportunity in the region