Housing sales are likely to rise by 30 per cent across seven major cities to nearly 1.8 lakh units in 2021, but demand will still be lower than the pre-COVID levels, according to property consultant Anarock. According to Anarock research, housing sales are expected to increase 30 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 1,79,527 units across seven cities in 2021 from 1,38,344 units last year. In 2019, housing sales stood at 2,61,358 units across seven cities -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.
Private equity (PE) investments in real estate sector fell 32 per cent to $4.3 billion in the last fiscal year mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to property consultant Anarock. PE investments in real estate stood at $6.3 billion in the 2020-21 financial year. According to Anarock Capital's FY22 year-end edition of its FLUX report, PE inflows in real estate were $5.1 billion in FY'20, $5.6 billion in FY'19 and $5.4 billion in 2017-18 fiscal. The consultant attributed the fall in PE investments in real estate to the second wave of the COVID-19, leading to multiple lockdowns in various parts of the country.
The housing inventory overhang in the top seven cities in India stood at a five-year low of 20 months at the end of the January-March quarter, data from real estate consultancy Anarock showed on Monday. It was the highest at 55 months in the quarter ending December 2020. The inventory overhang is the amount of time it would take to sell the current housing listings in an area. A lower overhang denotes higher demand in a particular area.
'What happens in the real estate market is that once the prices go up it goes on to stay at that level.' 'It might not increase and at the same time the prices will not come down too.'
'For me, if I want to buy a house to stay, I don't care about indexation because I don't want to sell that house.' 'The only thing that matters to me as a buyer is that the home price should be within my reach.' 'Any market, when speculators and investors go out, it will benefit the middle class.'
'Some buyers believe prices may correct in the future.' 'This is unlikely. Many developers are increasing prices amid strong sales and inflationary trends.'
Wealthy Indians are adding new residential addresses to their assets, many of them in Dubai. The quality of life in the desert city is comparable to any coveted city in the world. Its property market is regulated to protect investors' interests.
Make sure that the person you are buying the plot from is the rightful owner.
The seven major cities are Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kolkata.
Three major cities in south India -- Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai -- dominate India's office market with the contribution of 66 per cent of the total demand for office space during the last financial year 2020-21, according to Anarock report. The consultant noted that the main southern office market has overtaken other regions in terms of new supply, net absorption, and even rental growth. Among the top-seven cities, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai saw their share of total office leasing increase to 66 per cent in the 2020-21 fiscal year as against 47 per cent in FY18.
Shares of real estate firms have been outperforming over the past year. The rally, analysts say, may hit roadblocks in the near term amid stretched valuations, even as the long-term prospects for the sector remain ebullient. "Most of the positive news flow is already in the price. Hence, investors sitting on hefty profits may partially cash out at current levels," suggests V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Housing sales are estimated to rise 93 per cent year-on-year during April-June across seven major cities, but may fall 58 per cent compared to the previous quarter due to the adverse impact of the second wave of COVID-19, according to property consultant Anarock. Sales are likely to be around 24,570 units across seven major cities -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune, Anarock said. Sales of residential properties stood at 12,740 units in April-June 2020 and 58,290 units in March quarter 2021.
The NCR and the MMR together account for 77 per cent of 10 big housing projects stuck because of developers' bankruptcy or litigation.
Prospective buyers must make a well-considered decision regarding whether this is the right time to buy a house, particularly with home loan rates at near-peak levels, and the risk of job losses looming in many sectors.
The Indian office real estate market, which had recovered significantly in early 2022, began to slow down in the latter half due to macroeconomic problems in the developed world. Rental yields are likely to be stable at best in FY24.
End users should take the plunge despite higher home loan rates as these tend to be cyclical.
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.
The RBI's decision to hike the benchmark interest rate will make home loans costlier and affect housing sales, especially in affordable and mid-income segments, according to property consultants. The RBI on Wednesday hiked the key benchmark rate by 50 basis points. Property consultancy firms Anarock, Knight Frank India, JLL India, Colliers India, India Sotheby's International Realty and Investors Clinic said that the RBI's move was on the expected line to control inflation and this would result in an increase in interest rates on home loans.
The move to demerge the hotel business into a separate entity by ITC has brought back focus on hotel stocks, which have already seen a good run thus far in fiscal 2023-24 (FY24). Analysts believe there could be more gains in store over the next one year for the stocks in this sector, but suggest investors put in money on a correction only from a long-term perspective. Hotel stocks, according to A K Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital, have seen a good run as travel picked up post Covid in India. Not only have the room rents increased, the occupancy, too, has surged.
'Negotiate a longer agreement with the escalation clause fixed now.' 'This will enable you to control future cost increases.'
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 RBI's decision to hike repo rate will hit consumers' buying sentiment, but will have a moderate impact on housing sales in the affordable and mid-income categories, according to industry experts.
India's housing sector is witnessing probably the "biggest boom" in the last one and half decade driven by various factors such as affordability and customers aspiration to own homes, HDFC Capital Advisors Managing Director and CEO Vipul Roongta said on Tuesday. Addressing a real estate summit organised by FICCI, he noted that the residential real estate segment has revived strongly after going through a lot of pain due to new realty law RERA and demonetisation. "In the last one and half decade, I think this is probably the biggest boom I am personally seeing as an organisation on the residential segment, whether it is affordable mid-income and premium housing properties," said Roongta, who is also co-chairman, FICCI Real Estate Committee.
'You may opt for a longer minimum guaranteed tenure of 12-18 months. This will ensure that in a rising rental scenario, the landlord doesn't serve you a notice and ask you to vacate the property.'
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.
'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.'
Godrej Properties Ltd has acquired legendary film actor, director and producer Raj Kapoor's bungalow at Chembur in Mumbai for around Rs 100 crore to develop a luxury housing project with a sales potential of Rs 500 crore. The land was purchased from the Kapoor family, legal heirs of Raj Kapoor, the company said in a regulatory filing. When contacted, Godrej Properties executive chairman Pirojsha Godrej told PTI: "The total size of the land is around 1 acre.
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.
Average apartment size in residential projects launched in 2020 increased by 10 per cent to 1,150 sq ft, as builders expected demand for bigger flats to rise after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to property consultant Anarock. Average apartment sizes in seven major cities have risen by 10 per cent on a yearly basis to 1,150 sq ft in 2020 from 1,050 sq ft in 2019, it said in a report. The consultant said the average apartment sizes were reducing year-on-year since 2016 but the trend has reversed last year.
Worli and Mahalaxmi in Mumbai Metropolitan Region are placed at second and third positions with average housing prices of Rs 41,500 and Rs 40,000 per sq ft, respectively.
'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.'
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.
Analysts, however, suggest investors remain selective on realty stocks and buy only where there is revenue visibility and a credible promoter backing.
India's residential market is expected to sustain demand momentum despite rise in mortgage and property rates as sales this year across the top 7 cities are likely to breach pre-pandemic level of 2.62 lakh units, industry players said. After braving four back-to-back disruptions in form of demonetisation, RERA, GST and COVID-19 in the last 6 years, industry experts feel the housing market is going through a lot of structural changes and is now at the start of a long-term upcycle. Homebuyers body FPCE gives credit to the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) under the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016 for this improved buying sentiment.
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.
The Reserve Bank's rate-setting panel will start its 3-day deliberations on Wednesday amid expectations of yet another rate hike of 50 basis points to check high inflation, in line with similar actions taken by other major central banks, including the US Fed. Based on the recommendations of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the RBI had effected 50 basis points increase in repo rate each in June and August after raising the short-term lending rate by 40 basis points in an off-cycle decision in May. The MPC, headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, is scheduled to meet during September 28-30.
Housing sales across seven major cities are estimated to fall 47 per cent year-on-year to 1.38 lakh units this year on lower demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to property consultant Anarock. New housing supply, too, is likely to fall 46 per cent to 1.28 lakh units in 2020 in seven cities -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.
Most players are looking to invest anywhere between $500 million and $1 billion in new ventures in the next couple of years, said experts on this segment.
Improved credit profile may make you eligible to transfer your existing home loan to another lender at a much lower rate.
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.