Almost a decade back, IT firms in India and abroad started to look beyond Bangalore and southern cities for setting up their institutions. It was then Pune the city of Peshwas made most of the windfall and jumped on to the IT/ITes bandwagon. After that the city has never looked back and has embraced the new avenues. Though the IT sector is growing at a rapid pace, the presence of automobile giants such as Tatas and General Motors is adding to the momentum in the city.

The growth corridors are mainly edged on the eastern and western side of the city. With the foundation for the IT zone in 1998, Hinjewadi on the western corridor became the first site in the city. Thus, IT Parks of Hinjewadi, Baner and Aundh along with the industrial hubs of Talegaon, Chakan, and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) became the major growth factor on the western side.

The back of this, the West Pune observed a healthy housing demand from the IT professionals and the industrial workers. Today, the capital values in areas such as Aundh, Baner and Hinjewadi have reached as high as Rs 6,500-9,590 per sq ft.

After tasting success on the western corridor, the realty focus has now shifted towards the eastern parts of the city. According to a survey, localities in the east witnessed 69 per cent capital hike in the last one year. The expansion of IT firms towards the east has generated an increase in the housing demand.

Once fondly known for its vegetable market, Hadapsar is another area that has mushrooming up into a vibrant real estate destination in the city. A 400-acre Magarpatta City, a revolutionary walk-to-work concept just adds another feather to East Pune’s cap.

From an investment perspective, due to proximity to the airport and railway station, eastern localities again evolves as a potential option. A standard 1000-sq-ft apartment in localities such as Kharadi, Viman Nagar, Kalyani Nagar is available between Rs 65-95 lakh.

Buoyed by these factors, eastern corridor has also grabbed the eyeballs of many renowned developers. These include Kolte Patil, Marvel Realtors, Rohan Builders, Karia Developers, to name a few.

The four state polls results have floated a new wave of expectation in the UP’s real estate sector in recent times, according to the experts. The experts believe that the clear mandate will lead to economic growth in the country. The market sentiments will also respond very soon to breach all time high soon.

However, these elections verdict are alarming signal for those parties, who so far believe that money, muscle, actor and caste factors are the wining formulas of elections. The historic debut of AAP party has strengthened the power of Aam Aadmi in the NCR region.

The realty sector is hoping that this will mark a positive impact on the market, which was reeling under slump from last few months. Suddenly, the market saw rise of 330 points in the BSE after a strong performance of the BJP in the recently concluded Assembly polls in four states.

From last few months the realty market was witnessing major downfall. Even the exit polls of assembly results left positive impact on the Indian market. The sector is hoping that real estate market, which provides which provides bread and butter to crores of people of this country would be revived soon.

The poll verdict will help in generating positive sentiments in the market. The positive sentiment was missing from the market, which is why some sectors were down grading. With the functioning of the new governments, the market will witness more growth and strength.

Politicians are engaged in divide and rule policy but this is an alarming signal for all politicians and political parties, who believe that muscle, money, caste and actor factors are winning formula in the elections.  The residents are fed-up of all these things in the country. Delhi election is model for the entire nation and the people of this country must learn something with Delhi election historical result.

Many urban cities across the country are observed to have traded ‘urban development’ for the loss of cultural identity and traditional old charm. The growth of Pune remains an encouraging example for the real estate developments in the city have changed the look and feel of the city and yet, managed to retain its old identity. In fact, Pune’s realty growth has been so organized that it has not turned into an urban nightmare in recent past.

Experts’ debate on how far Pune’s retaining of the old classic charm has been by default and how far the developers have upheld it by their design. The architecture during those days of before independence was functional; the fact that these old buildings are still standing is witness to that fact but they form a small percentage of today’s buildings, which are entirely different from what Pune used to have.

Cities are growing at the fastest pace ever. Pune has seen urbanization transform the perception of the city, from a retirement paradise to a tier-II metropolis.  This rising population is bound to impact the society.

As a developing economy, we see people move into an area and infrastructure follows. There used to be far more acute water problems in many emerging areas, where as today, the water problem has reduced.

Pune has been witness to a balanced growth of various segments of residential as well as commercial real estate. It can be vouchsafed that Pune is relatively more balanced as far as realty growth is concerned.

According to a survey home buyers expect prices to fall in the next 6-8 months as indicated by housing sentiment index that fell by 22 pc during July-September compared to the previous quarter.

The Housing Sentiment Index (HSI, was developed  based on an online survey of prospective home buyers in eight major cities in the country which includes Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Bangalore.

The collective Housing Sentiment Index (HSI) dropped to 97 from 120 in the previous quarter, a decline of over 22 pc.

A HSI of 100 suggests that buyers expect prices to continue at current levels, while values lower than 100 suggest that buyers expect prices to fall.

An aggregate HSI score of 97 for the 8 cities surveyed indicates anticipation of a price drop over the next 6-8 months. The catalogue fell from 117 last quarter, which indicates a shift in sentiment among prospective home buyers.

Buyers in Bangalore still expect prices to marginally hike while buyers in the other 7 major cities expect prices to tumble, with Mumbai having the lowest HSI score of 85. The bifurcation issue seems to have hurt buyer sentiment in Hyderabad badly as its HSI score fell by over 32 pc to 88.

The trend is robust in all the eight cities that were surveyed and reflects a shift from the previous quarter when buyers expected price growth to continue.

The percentage of buyers who expect prices to fall by more than 12 pc has almost doubled from 16 pc of sample last quarter to 27 pc this quarter.

The value of Hyderabad properties index, surge by 4 pc in the last quarter. Since values are low, there is a swelling number of people upgrading to premium living which has now come within their budgets. As a result, there is vigorous demand for luxury properties in the Rs 45-85lakh category.

Localities close to business districts such as Gachibowli are doing well from the sale and lease activities.  Suitability of living is also a factor. Localities that open on to very busy roads such as the Outer Ring road are not performing as well as there is plenty of options available in all areas in the city.

The steady demand has also led to 7 pc growth in values across almost 81 pc localities. Premium properties in Banjara and Jubilee Hills as well as parts of Madhapur posted the maximum increase in rental standards. Reasonable properties close to IT hubs registered a small rise in values. This has also translated into a growing yield from residential real estate investment sector.

At an average of Rs 2,500 per sq ft, it is the least affluent large real estate market in the country. West and East Hyderabad were the most active property markets with both demand and supply concentrated there, thanks to robust economic hubs.

The T-issue concerns have controlled the Hyderabad property market in the past. However, good job predictions and the fact that the city will continue as a joint capital for Andhra and new state Telangana for at least 10 years has affected the consumer sentiment positively.  As a result searches and dealings are both in good volume and have impacted the values in a good mood.

The health of real estate cannot be different from the health of businesses progress in the city.The health of business has a lot to do with the sense of a well- ruled city, and a population that is optimist about the future course in the bifurcation. The inflow of new industries has slowed down, in a city that has been preparing for exactly that for years now, and has planned huge areas of land only for that tenacity.

Other than the current political scenario, a great deal of the lethargy in Hyderabad’s property market is due to the fact that the market currently supports 50-65 lakh support housing. With a lot of land bought at the 2007 prices of 25-35 crore per acre in high-end Hyderabad, and the rise in construction costs, these numbers become useless.

On the real estate sector, it is well known, that the premium segment Hyderabad structures have been experiencing sluggish development. While the top middle-rung developers in the city area have sold a majority of their inventory, they are waiting and watching before commencing new projects, as pricing has become a big factor in recent past.

Even in commercial office space, take Knowledge City for example, where land was bought at 18-20 crores per acre, the bare minimum rents needed have become unrealistic with IT rents soaring around Rs 40 psf currently. Companies worldwide wait and watch to see governments behaving in a responsive way to changing circumstances.

According to a survey, the buyers in the Hyderabad market are only genuine home buyers, or genuine CRE users. People parking money for further infusion have almost vanished form the market.

Just recently, an established builder of 15 years, with no stock available, had been scouting for PE equity, and inspite of reaching out to 17 PE Funds, could not solicit interest in even one.

The notification given by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) declaring about the 60,000 sq km of the Western Ghats as an eco-sensitive area (ESA) has been  corrected to give the green signal to develop a township project up to 50 hectare in the area.

The MoEF had banned construction projects of over 20,000 sq mt township and area development projects. After the new notice to allow 50 hectares the old notice has been withdrawn by the ministry.

Green activist, who are protesting the Centre’s decision of accepting the suggestion of the high-level working panel, declared the move has weaken the measures taken to protect the ecology of the region.

The green also said these developments seem to confirm the fears that the decision to cut out an ESA was the initial step before development can commence in the forested areas.

The new notice will dent the measures taken to protect the region and a petition is also filed in the Bombay High Court asking clarification of the Sawantwadi-Dodamarg wildlife corridor as an eco-sensitive area.

With this notification developers are planning to develop townships all over the Western Ghats which is a big threat to this sensitive area.

An NGO alleged the Union Government was more influenced by the builder lobbies to give a green signal to construction than being concern about the welfare of the people in the area.

The green are protesting against the working panel and they are gearing up to file a petition in the Supreme Court of India very soon against the notification.

They are also asking the government to allow the existing villages to be given protection responsibility for this very sensitive ecological region.

Despite a weak property market, most listed builders declared better cash collection and lower interest expenses in the second quarter, as they handed over several projects to the buyers.

DLF, India’s largest developer is planning to decline debt further by raising equity funds. In recent past a builder requires a low collection to raise loans for construction expenses; various developers repaid their loans in the Q2, due to the improved collections.

The advances collected by HDIL surged by 22 pc in the first quarter to Rs 185 cr and the firm is expected to collect an increase amount of 45 pc around Rs 300 cr in the third quarter. The cash flow was good in last six months and its showing a healthy progress.

According to the experts, many projects were handed over to the buyers during this period. Construction spends surged a 20 pc annum during the September quarter. The Godrej properties handed over 650 flats in one of its largest residential project in Ahmedabad.

Even as the developers spent more in construction, they managed to cut down financing costs.  Very few developers such as IndiaBulls and Puravankara Projects declared a fall in interest expenses due to debt drop.

Developers are looking to raise funds as Godrej Properties raised Rs 700 cr in August this year to reduce it net debt to Rs 1,200 cr from Rs 1,600.

Dlf also reduced its debt by Rs 900 cr by selling off its non-core asset. The firm’s debt is around Rs 19,500 cr and is planning to raise Rs 1,000 cr through mortgage securities on two malls in the NCR region.

Overall, the September quarter witnessed revenue growth of 15 pc as compared to 23 pc in the June quarter. Net profits however remained mostly flat due to higher construction costs.

Badlapur, a small town on the outskirts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the city is developed into two areas East and West. Due to the population growth in the nearby cities, people working in Mumbai have moved to Badlapur for a number of social economic reasons. The eastern part is mostly build on the hills.

The small beautiful city has locally driven economy to support it. In recent times it had witnessed industrial growth that spillover from Mumbai, providing huge employment opportunities to local residents.

Badlapur is the new destination for affordable housing units, given the high property prices in the financial capital. In residential sector it attracts low and mid level income people towards it. The city is cosmopolitan and woos many nomads looking to settle in this beautiful hilly area. The city gives very cost effective housing options.

After Thane, Badlapur is fast emerging as the next destination for selective home buyers who tend to work in Mumbai but prefer to live in the outskirts due to huge amenities and affordable housing rates available here.

Earlier, the small city has huge number of standalone homes with open areas and huge garden in it. But the trend is changing now, over the past two –three years, large apartment, complex’s, penthouses, holiday homes are coming up in the city.

The real estate sector is among the emerging one in the Mumbai and currently seeing a lot of activities by investors looking to cash in on booming sector in the area.  Increase in demand in this area is assured in coming future.

Property Tax

The excess supply in various pockets across the country looked up to the awaited festive season this year to bring back some cheer in the face of the real estate developers. Dussehra and Diwali festivals are behind us and the season did not turn up as expected.

The sector tried hard to get the attention of buyers by offering price discounts and freebies to shoot the purchase decisions. But the buyer remained unimpressed and sales did not take-off in the sector. The festive season not only failed to turnaround things, but it was the worst festive season in last decade.

 A majority of developers are sitting on inventory that is only growing further and are facing huge problems of even funding their working capital requirements.

The industry players and experts reveal that in coming 6-8 months a little can be expected as the General Elections are in May 2014. With the real estate industry seeing an excess supply in various pockets, it may turn out to be an interesting phase for the potential buyers and there is every possibility of getting good home deals.

It was the festive season that failed to bring cheers to developers, brokers with in the sector. Experts say that sales during the festive season were around 35 pc of what it was expected. Even the developers’ look to dispose their existing inventories, various new projects also got launched across the market to woo the home buyers but that didn’t work out for the debt ridden developers.

As the festive season was approached, roads leading to Noida, and its periphery saw huge hoarding of cricketers, film stars, Celebes to attract the buyers. But this time the star power was unable to lift the sales.

Even a good discount was failed to attract the buyers. The season saw a lukewarm response from the buyers. The property prices in recent times have fallen by 15-20 pc in Delhi-NCR region.

The state of the property industry is giving a clear indication of the economy and the sentiments of the buyers and is currently affecting most of the sectors in the market.  A falling rupee has also affected the sales in luxury segment very badly.

The industry experts feel that slowdown in growth and job security had a major impact on the sector and potential buyers are taking time to decide. The buyers are waiting for the stability to return in the economic front before taking major investment decisions.

The luxury holiday homes in the hills are again becoming an object to desire and country’s top realty firms are ready to meet this demand, especially when the slowdown in the market has battered sale sin the urban markets. Big businessmen, top executives and retired industrialist are looking to have a second relaxing home to get a respite form the city life.

Local and small time developers have been offering homes in the hills, but its entry of the big players like DLF, Tata Housing, and Fire Capital that has energized the mountain market.

Tata Housing has launched a project in Kasauli which will have 75 villas spread across 24 acres of lush green. The villas are priced Rs 3.5-8 cr. While, the Woodside Developments is close to complete ist project in Kasauli with 38 villas of 3,000-5,200 sq ft spread on 30 acres of greenery.

Country’s biggest developer DLF has launched one project each in Kasauli and Shimla, where it is selling plots as well as homes on the mountain.

Luxury developments in the hills are the most sought as ideal holiday home destinations in recent past. The market has grown in the last few years as people have moved from beach destinations for holiday homes to mountains.

People these days are looking for a modern lifestyle even in their holiday destinations with gated community.

PE fund Fire Capital has entered the segment with a luxury apartment project called Clouds’ End in Kufri, where apartment sizes kept small to bring down the ticket size Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1.8 crore.

There weren’t too many options for buyers except for projects built by local developers where quality was the main concern. Now with some top class developers in the fray, people know what to expect in those areas.

In states like Himachal Pradesh buying property isn’t easy for people from outside the state. They can, however, buy land from growers if they get permission under Section 118 of the Land Reform Act of 1972.

After a new act was introduced it has brought more clarity to the transfer of projects, which enables the outsider to buy apartments in the hill.