Tata BlueScope Building Solutions, a division of Tata BlueScope Steel Ltd, has tied-up with Arshiya International Ltd to provide Butler Building Systems for Arshiya’s upcoming warehousing projects in India. TBBS has started work, and is currently executing six Butler Buildings at Panvel. Arshiya plans to erect 19 warehouses and chillers units at Panvel and, subsequently, intends to erect 40-50 warehouses at Nagpur and Noida besides the UAE in the next three y ears. Mr H.G. Chandrashekhar, VP-TBBS, said, “Despite the volatile market conditions, infrastructure sector, especially the warehouse segment holds a tremendous growth potential. We are well-poised to successfully meet the evolving demands of the emerging warehouse markets.”
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Buyers realize homes still not their cup of tea
Property prices across the country are 10-25% lower than their peak in early 2008. Bank rates are about 4 percentage points lower. Still, the vast majority of the exploding middle class, which aspires to own a home, is not taking the plunge. Homes are still not affordable. Affordable homes are hardly homes.
The rates may have come down, but even today, the prices quoted by sellers are too high. The developers have reduced the price, but have started charging more for the parking space, which one has to compulsorily buy and that too pay black money for that.
Raheja gets 500 crores’ Delhi slum project
DDA has awarded Delhi’s first slum redevelopment project, worth Rs 500 crore, to a local builder, Raheja Developers, in a move that may see more such projects in the national capital resulting in better living conditions for urban poor and thousands of crores of businesses for builders.
DDA has awarded 5.22-hectare, or 13-acre, project at Kathputli Colony near Shadipur Depot in west Delhi to Raheja Developers for Rs 6.11 crore, a DDA spokesperson said. Under the scheme, the builder pays only Rs 6.11 crore—the bid amount—for the land, but has to build 2,800 homes, of 30 square metre size each, for existing slum dwellers of Kathputli Colony named after its majority residents of puppeteers and craftsmen.
In the bargain, the builder gets for commercial exploitation 10% of the total space slated for 2800 homes and also close to a hectare for high-end residential development. Therefore, the cost incurred in building 2800 homes for slum-dwellers will be offset by the sale of commercial space and high-end houses in the project, while land would come dirt cheap at Rs 6 crore.
DLF has recently sold 1250 apartments in its Capital Greens project, just 3-4 kilometres from Shadipur Depot at a rate of Rs 5677 a square feet. Raheja Developers will have to create temporary accommodation for the slum dwellers at a piece of land close to the project site that will be given by the DDA in a month or two.
Al Wa’ab City walks ahead luxury Oberoi Hotels and Resorts
Oberoi Hotels and Resorts has received numerous prestigious awards. The Oberoi brand is synonymous with providing the right blend of luxury, warm service and quiet efficiency to international luxury travelers. It is acknowledged by business and leisure travelers alike as being amongst the finest in the industry.
The Oberoi Hotel, Doha will provide its guests, residents and visitors to Qatar with a distinctive luxury hospitality experience, featuring 225 rooms and suites, 30 serviced apartments in addition to premium outlets for fine dining, leisure and health amenities.
Sheikha Hanadi Nasser Bin Khaled Al Thani- CEO of Al Wa’ab City Management- said, “This MOU is a great example of how Al Wa’ab City is consistently aiming at achieving growth and excellence and remaining true to our mission and commitment to being Qatar’s leading real estate developers. The goals we set at the beginning of our project are being realised across the board and our strategies are continuously enhanced to respond to the changing market environment. Oberoi Hotels & Resorts is perfectly in line with our vision to bring home an unparalleled showcase of the most premium experiences”.
She further added, “Since the launch of our project, we made sure to build our momentum by defining and meeting numerous benchmarks. To sign an MOU with a group of Oberoi Hotels and Resorts’ exceptional quality and character is exactly the level of association we expect the Al Wa’ab City project to be aligned with. I’m sure this will be a great partnership, we look forward to welcoming the Oberoi hotel in Al Wa’ab City and the city of Doha”.
Raheja gets 500 crores’ Delhi slum project
DDA has awarded Delhi’s first slum redevelopment project, worth Rs 500 crore, to a local builder, Raheja Developers, in a move that may see more such projects in the national capital resulting in better living conditions for urban poor and thousands of crores of businesses for builders.
DDA has awarded 5.22-hectare, or 13-acre, project at Kathputli Colony near Shadipur Depot in west Delhi to Raheja Developers for Rs 6.11 crore, a DDA spokesperson said. Under the scheme, the builder pays only Rs 6.11 crore—the bid amount—for the land, but has to build 2,800 homes, of 30 square metre size each, for existing slum dwellers of Kathputli Colony named after its majority residents of puppeteers and craftsmen.
In the bargain, the builder gets for commercial exploitation 10% of the total space slated for 2800 homes and also close to a hectare for high-end residential development. Therefore, the cost incurred in building 2800 homes for slum-dwellers will be offset by the sale of commercial space and high-end houses in the project, while land would come dirt cheap at Rs 6 crore.
DLF has recently sold 1250 apartments in its Capital Greens project, just 3-4 kilometres from Shadipur Depot at a rate of Rs 5677 a square feet. Raheja Developers will have to create temporary accommodation for the slum dwellers at a piece of land close to the project site that will be given by the DDA in a month or two.
Madhucon Gets $3.9 Million Nepal order
Madhucon Projects Ltd, a Hyderabad-based infrastructure company, has secured a $3.9 million order for a road project from the Government of Nepal.
According to a company statement, the mandate involves upgradation of Sanfebagar-Martadi road under the road improvement project of the Exim Bank of India, Mumbai.
It had commissioned its first BOT project on NH 11 on the Bharatpur-Mahua section in Rajasthan, for which toll collection started from May. . National Highways Authority of India has recommended starting toll collection for the company’s second BOT project between Karur and Dindigul.
Meanwhile, Madhucon, which is establishing a 540 MW thermal power project in Krishnapatnam, proposes to increase the capacity to 1920 MW.
Safexpress investing in 32 logistics parks
Safexpress will invest nearly Rs 600 crore in the next two years to launch 32 logistics parks to double its warehousing space to around ten million square feet.
According to Mr Vineet Kanaujia, GM, Marketing, Safexpress, The expansion will help the company reach revenue of around Rs 1,000 crore in the next two years from Rs 650 crore.
Nearly one third of the new investment will be in the South.
The company announced its new logistics park in Chennai at the Logistics 2009, a two-day seminar on logistics, organized by the CII Institute of Logistics.
It has invested Rs 35 crore in the 3.86 lakh square facility, located at Vanagaram on the NH-5.
The park enables loading and unloading of 134 vehicles simultaneously to ensure smooth and uninterrupted movement of goods, he said at the sidelines of the event.
Sahara Prime City to use Rs 2860 crore from IPO
Sahara Prime City, which aims to raise Rs 3,450 crore from an IPO, will utilize Rs 2,668 crore in the next 3 years to part-fund development of about nineteen thousand housing units across the country.
At present, Sahara Prime City is developing nine integrated townships and one residential complex in cities such as Lucknow, Indore, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Solapur and Cochin. The group’s ambitious Ambey Valley project is not a part of Sahara Prime City.
Sahara Prime City plans to develop 16 more integrated townships and would pump in another Rs 1426.83 crore from the proceeds of the IPO.
The DRHP said it would develop 13.41 million square feet of residential space in the upcoming projects across the country, including Bangalore, Chandigarh, Jabalpur, Jodhpur, Porbandar, Haridwar and Pune.
Happy days are back into realty
Realty industry is all set to be lift up this Diwali. At least 12 public offerings, a slew of new projects and the return of private equity funds that had turned away proposals due to the global slowdown last year.
‘After weathering the worst funds crisis for one and half year, the realty sector has now started seeing inflow of capital and funds,’ said Anuj Puri, the country head of leading global realty brokerage firm Jones Lang LaSalle-Meghraj.
Mr. Puri further said, ‘Sales are improving and private equity funds are coming back. With market sentiments getting bullish, prospects of fund-raising are even brighter. You can now see how every company is taking the QIP route to raise funds,’.
QIP is a tool to raise capital whereby a listed company issues equity shares, fully or partly convertible debentures or securities, instead of warrants, to institutional buyers.
After losing almost 75% of its stock valuation last year, India’s realty sector has raised about $15 billion (Rs.750 billion/Rs.75,000 crore) through routes like QIP in the past six months.
Among the developers who have started mopping up funds over the past few months are the largest player in the industry, DLF Ltd, with $780 million, Unitech with $325 million and Indiabulls Real Estate with $550 million.
Property cards to regulate realty
Property cards are the new concept to regulate realty sector in Karnataka. When the Karnataka Land Grabbers Act comes into force, it’ll bring in clearness by cleaning up land records. These had always been messed with, resulting in dubious property transactions and disputes. These cards, to be issued to property owners, will serve as authentic documents.
According to Revenue department registration of sale deeds would be replaced with registration of titles. This will be done by introducing the progressive system of property titles. The newly formed task force for eviction of encroachers on government land is also part of it.
During talks with stakeholders on irregularities in account transfer and building construction, it was felt there is no reliable system of land and property title records in Bangalore Urban. Records of rights are written casually, leading to endless disputes. The present system of registration of documents can be misused easily.
Checklist for NRIs Willing To Invest In Real Estate
1. Doing a bit of research on the track record of builder can help.
2. For any real estate purchase it is preferable to make visits to the sites before buying them. This exercise is worth it not only because we are committing a large amount of money but also because reversing the decision proves costly as well. If the NRI is not able to make it, he can request a trusted friend or relative to opt for the site visit.
3. Going for a home loan through a bank will ensure that the money is released in stages only. This keeps the money safe during the construction. Also, all the banks at their local branches have their list of shortlisted builders for whose constructions loans are pre-approved. It is better to buy only these constructions, as the banks are quite stringent in their norms for pre-approval and shortlist only those builders who have a proven track record and those project, which comply to all legal norms.
4. Post the construction, the management of the asset is one of the major issues faced by NRIs. There is no easy solution for this. There are some society associations which support the owners of the buildings with services like maintenance and rent collection. There are again the “friendly neighborhood real estate agents” who may some times double up as the maintenance manager too. Many times though the “friendly” turn into “greedy” after some time. There are a few professional real estate management firms in most metros, which are now expanding into the Tier-II cities too.
5. Some of the other checks for any real estate purchase are:
i. Whether the construction rate quoted is for Built-up area or Carpet area? Construction is generally quoted for built-up area and rental is quoted only for the carpet area. There can be a difference of 15 % to 20% between the two based on the type of construction. Today in apartments there is the concept of super built-up area which apart from the built-up area includes stair case, common passages, fire escape passage, etc. The super built-up area can be bloated by as much as 50% of the carpet area.
ii. Robert Allen, the Real Estate Mogul suggests the 100 – 20 – 10 – 1 rule for any real estate purchase. The idea is to check out 100 properties in person; shortlist 20 of them for a deeper scrutiny; enter into negotiation with sellers for 10 of the properties and finally buy the ONE that is best suited.
iii. Technically there should be a check for all the statutory approvals – town planning, water supply and sewage disposal, safety approval from the local fire department, etc. It is always better to ask for the encumbrance certificate and the title deed from the builder to get a legal opinion from a lawyer.
6. Don’t hesitate to ask. This is probably the most important point. Many times, for avoiding being thought of as less intelligent, we question less. For any investing and particularly for real estate the more the questions asked the better the investment. The genuineness of the promoter can be gauged by the patience, the promptness and depth of the answers. Answers like, “Don’t worry about that, we will manage”, without going into the specifics are danger signs.
7. Take time. Do not restrain yourself by limiting the time for checking the properties and decision making to the time that you are present in India. A 2-4 week holiday cannot be hoped to be converted into a real estate investment period. Start the process before you come here. In case you cannot decide before you leave, it is OK. A Power of Attorney to a parent or a relative can be used to decide on the actual purchase even after you leave the shores of India.
Landscape expo in Hyderabad
Mr K Rosaiah, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, inaugurated the fourth International Landscape and Gardening Expo 2009. About hundred exhibitors from fifteen countries, including the US and Australia, are taking part in the event. A conference, `Plants, Places and People’, would be held at `Visvesvaraya Bhavan’ on 3rd October. It would focus on improving quality of life of the people by preserving the environment. Ms Savita Punde, President of Indian Society of Landscape Architects, would take part in the conference.
Property deals to be scanned by FIU
Financial Intelligence Unit wants to cross check every real estate deal. It has asked the states to submit monthly data on registration of properties. FIU is a central agency responsible for receiving, processing and analyzing information relating to suspect financial transactions.
Often the real estate deals in the country involve unaccounted cash transactions. This may result into illegal fund transaction.
At present, all property registrars have to send data to income tax authorities on property transactions above thirty lakh rupees as part of the Annual Information Return. The FIU demands data for all property transactions.
The complete data is required for the agency also for co-coordinating efforts of international intelligence in checking money laundering and related crimes. If timely data are available, any intelligence generated by it could be acted upon promptly.
Unity Infra gets 55 crores’ order
Construction company, Unity Infra projects said that it has received a contract worth Rs 54.56 crore from Amanora Park Town for construction-related works. The scope of work includes construction of six towers among others, Unity Infra projects said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The project is scheduled to be completed in 29 months. Shares of the company closed at Rs 408.55, up 0.91% on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Real estate is always an asset
Improvement in the overall economic sentiment coupled with liquidity due to a recent upswing in the equity markets has renewed consumer faith in real estate.
Developer Vijay Wadhwa advises parents to go for real estate investment for their child’s future. He further said, “Real estate is the best long-term investment. It remains in your child’s name, and the appreciation in value over the years makes it a safe and secure option. Or even while planning for your old age, real estate is always an asset”.
Looking at the current market scenario, Wadhwa points out that market sentiments are improving, and real estate is among the biggest beneficiaries. He said, “After witnessing slow movement over the past few months, Mumbai is seeing an increase in demand in the residential sector. Additionally, increasing focus on affordable housing for low and middle income groups has resulted in the launch of several low cost projects, most of which are concentrated in the peripheries of Mumbai. This has also opened up new investment options for those who did not have bigger investment units or major amounts that could be invested”.
Further he says, “Softening of home loan interest rates and correction in capital values by some developers has resulted in the anticipation of increased demand during the festive season,” says Narpat Mehta, director, Kanakia Group. “We are expecting an increase in demand from both end users as well as investors”.
Omaxe may raise prices
Real estate developer Omaxe Ltd may raise prices this financial year and plans to launch four new projects over the next two months on rising demand, its chairman said.
Mr. Rohtas Goel said, “Demand might be robust. I will increase prices very soon, in single digits within this year”.
The firm will invest fifteen billion rupees on the new projects, Goel said, adding he expects revenues of 23 billion rupees from the projects over 30 months.
India’s property market is recovering from a bottom hit earlier this year, and analysts say much of the demand will be from middle-income and affordable housing.
Real Estate Looking Forward
The reactions to real estate market are mixed. The looking up of this market in the US economy has raised some hopes in the Indian markets too. Various real estate companies have expressed that the market is looking up, and is likely to improve in the coming days, but some companies are skeptical and want to see actual results flowing in before commenting.
There has been some increased activity on the real estate market front in the recent weeks and this has raised some hopes. The media also reported that the prices of houses would not drop down further indicating that there is stability in the market.
The following weeks would be crucial and they could decide which way the market would go in the coming weeks.
Indian developers set sights on Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is taking small steps to revitalize its shabby forty billion dollar economy. Delegates from the Sri Lanka board of investment met officers from real estate giants for investments and have liberal rules governing businesses.
It aims to spend twenty million dollar in encouraging the nation for global tourists.
Ravi Puravankara, MD-Puravankara group, said, “With the civil war over, we are seeing a huge demand for housing”. The group is planning to launch a villa project in Colombo. Further he added, “We have already initiated the land acquisition process”.
The Sri Lankan government is aiming an FDI of two billion dollars by next year. According to government statistics, Sri Lanka received $889 million in FDI during last year and four hundred million dollars, so far, this year. The Board of Investment refused to comment on how much it expects the Indian real estate developers to invest.
Loans set to get costlier
The Reserve Bank of India may step up its efforts to pre-empt another bubble in the local property market by increasing the cost of funds for the commercial real estate sector by up to 200 basis points.
According to an RBI official, “We are looking at a hike in the risk weight to the commercial real estate segment to 125% as a measure to ward off another bubble in the real estate segment and to ensure high credit quality”.
These days interest rates on most of the loans are between 7.5% and 12.5%, depending on the credit rating of the borrowing company. The current move will make loans to this segment costlier by 75-200 basis points.
Bank finance for land development is classified as CRE if the source of repayment would be lease rentals. The segment has started showing signs of revival after an earlier-than-expected recovery of the country’s economy from a demand slump.
The measure could affect the financial health of some of the largest real estate firms of the country, which were forced to sell land banks and projects to meet their cash requirements. A similar move by the RBI in 2007 had resulted in a crash in property prices. Though the central bank was criticised for the measure, the global financial crisis in 2008 proved that it was a step in the right direction.
Till mid-November last year, the risk weight to loans secured by commercial real estate was 150%, which was brought down to 100% by the banking regulator to facilitate credit flow to the sector that was reeling under a demand slump.
High exposure of some banks in the segment may have prompted RBI to consider such a measure, said the chairman of a government-run bank. “A major chunk of the non-food credit off-take in the recent months went to the real estate segment,” he said, requesting anonymity. However, an increase in risk weight by 25% points will have only limited impact, he added.
Residential property prices rise
The upward movement has begun. Not only have the sales picked up, but the prices of residential property too have increased 5-15 % in the last couple of months. With a long festive season ahead, realty experts believe property markets could see heightened activity, provided developers desist from increasing prices of residential space any further.
Aditi Vijayakar, the executive director (Residential Services, India) of Cushman and Wakefield, said, “The festive season (September-December) has historically been a buying period, with a large chunk of overall sales being converted during this auspicious time. Some developers see as much as 30-40 % of the yearly sales taking place during the festive season”. Further she pointed out, “Residential prices have increased by 5-15 % from the bottom it made in the first half of the year. If the developers continue to raise the prices then the renewed demand and interest that is being witnessed will start to abate”.
She added, “The previous year has been a taxing one for the real estate industry and the initial signs of recovery are evident in the market, and as most of the sales happen during the festive periods, developers have to be cautious not to hike prices in projects and new launches as this will drive out the end users and prolong the revival in the residential space”.
According to the expert, almost all cities are registering a rise in sale as transactions had frozen up during the start of the year. But now as the economy has stabilized and is back on the growth trajectory, there is a revived interest in buying homes by end users and this increase in confidence, better economy, favorable borrowing conditions and rationalized capital values amongst others which is promoting rising sales across India.
Vijaya Bank looking at business from NRI accounts
Vijaya Bank has prepared a blueprint for taking its business from NRI accounts to five thousand crore rupees by 2011.
At present, NRI accounts contribute almost thirteen hundred crore rupees to its consolidated business volume.
Vijaya Bank Chairman and MD Albert Tauro said, “We are working on ‘Mission NRI 5000’ to grow to five thousand crore rupees in the segment by financial next year”.
Further he added, “We plan to grow both in terms of clients and volume in this segment, especially in Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, but it would need some seeding time”.
Besides, the bank has taken lead in financial inclusion and branch-less banking by opening almost a million no-frill accounts.
He added, “We will soon launch mobile banking facility and up our number of branches and ATMs to 1200 and 500, respectively, across India”.
He pointed, “Our CASA stands at 24% and we are targeting CASA level of 28% by the end of current financial year”.
Tauro informed, “The bank has successfully brought down its cost of deposit and raised yield on deposit. This has improved our net interest margin from 1.68% to 2.38%”.
The bank had so far restructured and rescheduled Rs 2,400 crore worth of loans, especially to the MSME, housing and real estate sectors.
The CMD was in town to inaugurate ten new branches in Lucknow region. The branches were opened in Lucknow, Badaun, Fatehpur, Hardoi, Pilibhit, Sultanpur and Hathras districts.
Mumbai expects highest residential space demand
Mumbai is expected to see the highest demand for residential space of approximately 16.40 lakh units due to the large scale urbanization. The mid-scale and affordable housing in suburban and peripheral areas will be the focus of this demand. However, the demand for office space would be approximately 23.7 million square feet, which is lower than that in Bangalore, Chennai and NCR.
The demand for hospitality in Mumbai is expected to be strong at over 98,500 room-nights, by virtue of the fact that the city is regarded as the financial capital of India and therefore the volume of both domestic and foreign business travelers is expected to grow steadily. Demand for retail is expected to be 6.19 million square feet.
On the other hand, Pune is expected to see the highest compounded annual growth in retail demand at 51% due to the current favorable demographics. The total expected demand for retail in Pune is approximately 1.76 million square feet. Office demand in Pune is expected to be 21.7 million square feet.
Bangalore emerges as a clear preference for sectors like office and retail, while it comes a close third in the residential and hospitality segments . Bangalore is expected to see the highest demand for office space in 2009-2013 of approximately 34 million square feet.
Developers show anger for new bill
A draft bill on real estate regulator that will protect the interest of home buyers by ensuring a transparent and healthy real estate sector has drawn the anger of developers.
According to Mr. Kumar Gera, Chief-CREDAI, “The government is trying to play nanny to the home purchaser”.
According to the new bill, a builder will have to register a project with the regulator before he does marketting for the properties. For this, the builder will have to submit a documentary proof of land ownership and the mandatory licenses for registration.
After verification only, the entire information about the project will be available on the regulator’s Website that will be accessible to common people. The regulator will also scrutinize the advertisements and names of brokers.
This process will make certain the legitimacy and the viability of the project, ending the current practice of realty firms launching projects without land ownership or mandatory approvals that leads to buyers getting stuck with fake projects.
Property expo in Mumbai from Oct 1
The Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) will organize an exhibition `Property 2009′ at MMRDA Grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex, from October 1st to 4th. Over 75 real estate developers will showcase their projects in Mumbai and suburban areas such as Thane and Navi Mumbai, besides Pune. State Bank of India is the co-organizer of the event. The other partners in the four-day programme include ICICI Home Finance, Axis Bank, LIC Housing Finance, IDBI Bank, and HDFC. Citibank NA, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation, GIC Housing Finance, IDBI Home Finance and Kotak Mahindra Bank will also participate.
‘Real Investment’-The Book For Real Estate
Knight Frank has introduced a real estate guidebook for India. The book provides information needed to invest in real estate market. Mr Pranay Vakil, Chairman-Knight Frank India, said, “We felt the need for a single credible source of information for which we brought together the best minds of the industry in business. This book makes real estate market simpler by offering tips”.