Struggling with a slowdown across segments, the Indian property market is moving towards the next phase of consolidation. Liquidity crunch in the real estate market is beginning to drive many mid-sized and small developers to beg for cover.
Many want to liquidate their land and incomplete projects by selling them to bigger developers or private equity players even at lower valuations. This is due to the stagnant market conditions. Around fifteen deals in real estate sector have fallen through in the past two months with investors developing cold feet.
A mid-sized builder at Chembur in Mumbai has put its fourteen floor commercial property in central Mumbai on the block. The developer wants to raise around one hundred fifty crore rupees which would help him complete his upcoming project.
A Hyderabad-based real estate group has started advertising to attract high networth investors to generate fifty crore rupees against bulk purchase of its housing project in the city. A small developer in Mumbai, pushed to a corner on account of mounting payables for construction material, is now offering its project at Juhu-Versova in Mumbai at about 35% discount to the current market price. In Delhi, some developers have approached property consultant to sell their income generating commercial properties to finance some of the unfinished projects.
Real estate funds and established developers admit that they are working on various proposals. Hiraandani Developers chairman Niranjan Hiranandani said, “Even in the normal circumstances we used to get offers from mid-sized developers to buy out their projects. But now, the numbers have increased considerably”.