Housing Segment Needs Infrastructure Status: NAREDCO Demands

NAREDCO, the National Real Estate Development Council, demanded that the housing segment should be given infrastructure status as it will enable them to gain tax benefits.
housing segment demands industry status

NAREDCO demands industry status for housing segment.

National Real Estate Development Council has recently demanded infrastructure status for the housing segment. The Housing ministry expressed that infrastructure status can be given to the affordable housing segment.

Housing and Poverty Alleviation Ministry (MHUPA) gestured that this time special focus will be on affordable housing segment. Housing Ministry revealed that they are hopeful of bringing some changes in the affordable housing segment. Continue reading

Real Estate Fails to Tackle Surging Housing Units Demand

Surging Housing Shortage of India.

Surging Housing Shortage of India.

Continued population boom in India leads to a situation where residential units or space remains insufficient for the people. According to Cushman and Wakefield all major cities of India are in high need of around 2.1 million new housing units to meet the increased demand. Real estate sector has to come up with new residential projects to solve out this great menace. Real estate has to play a vital role. Continue reading

Increasing demand of commercial real estate projects

As the phase of recession is towards its end, an increase in demand of commercial real estate projects, including both office and retail space has been witnessed by firms and retailers.

The executive director for development services at consultants Cushman and Wakefield India, Ravi Ahuja said that in many cities including Mumbai and Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), the commercial space leased out or sold by the firms is about 9.2 million sq. ft within just a time span of three months, while the space leased and sold during April-June 2009 was just 5.8 million sq. ft.

Last year, the retail space available was 6.3 million sq. ft. However, this year,  some 16.4 million sq. ft of retail space is expected to be available. Consultant Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. has predicted 8.9 million sq. ft will be absorbed this year, compared with 4 million sq. ft in 2009.

Developer such as Assotech Ltd, Wave Inc. Anant Raj Industries Ltd and BPTP India Ltd and have also reported improving property demand.

Realty Promises a more Cautious 2010

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Indian developers are looking forward to more feasible studies of any project before actually launching them so that they can avoid the excesses that resulted in the real estate downturn in 2009.

They are sending out a message that antagonism in the market will not be accepted any more and gigantic projects will be replaced by developments that buyers want rather than speculators.

Some fairly new measures will be taken in such a sector dominated by family-run businesses. According to property consultants they are entering into strategic alliance for labour and raw material, appointing project management consultants, and outsourcing construction work for faster delivery.

Aditi Vijaykar, executive director (residential) at Cushman and Wakefield India said,‘Builders are back with a bang but not an aggressive one. They want to try out new locations for projects and are trying to test a product before launching it’.

India’s largest developer by market value, DLF, will not buy land in current year and the next neither it will launch any new projects until and unless it has regulatory approvals. Presently the working capital model of DLF will depend on cash flow from pre-sales, customer advances and bank debt. Though it is not that easy to stop abstract buying, but a system like one home per family is required.

The realty sector is now conducting feasibility studies on the sizes and pricing of homes to ensure the right profile for its projects which was rarely done in previous years. Developers are also looking at special purpose vehicles or joint ventures instead of purchasing land outright. The real estate firms are also raising money though initial public offerings are aiming to use the funds for ongoing and proposed projects or to retire debt. This is extremely different from what it was done in 2006 and 2007 when everybody was interested in making money.

Parsvnath Developers wants to construct around 45 million square feet of space in the next 24 months and build around 1.25 million square feet in the last quarter. There is a need for the developers to ensure a rational profile for their projects.
Ramesh Jogani, managing director and chief executive of Indiareit Fund Advisors recommended that there is no need to build a 30 to 40 storey tower but just offer a mid-range quality product.