The RBI’s Realty Indices For Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad happens to be one of the 11 countries for which the reserve bank of India would prepare one index for commercial and one for residential properties. This is done to curtail speculations and expected realty bubble burst in the coming years. The RBI report on asset price monitoring system (ASMS) advised to formulate these indices two months back.

Reserve Bank of India, Kolkata
Photo by seaview99

Many different countries such as Canada, France, us refer to these indices for realty prices.

The report says, RBI should start compiling a realty index and update it every quarter. To begin with, the report has proposed Mumbai and Delhi where property prices have skyrocketed to record levels. After these cities RBI would add 10 other cities which include Greater Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Pune, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Bangalore and Bhopal.

The real estate price index once devised would become the primary index that could be perused by investors to gauge the performance of companies that are listed in the realty sector. The index can also help the investor analyze how real estate is performed in comparison to stocks and bonds. It can also provide information on the risk involved in a particular investment and returns that can be achieved from it.

The ASMS report has defined the deficiencies this indices would help overcome.

Beary’s Group Bags Prestigious Prize

A Bangalore based residential project has won the runner up award by the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI). ‘Bearys Lakeside Habitat’, a twin tower residential project was awarded the prestigious award on May 27 at Bali, Indonesia.

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Photo by [ecpark]
The ceremony was held in the presence of the President and the First lady of the Republic of Indonesia along with many other renowned developers and dignitaries especially flown in from around the world.

The project promoted by the Bearys Group, ‘Lakeside Habitat’ that welcomes you to the city as you drive into it from the airport is the only Indian project to win this award this year. This is not the first time that Lakeside Habitat has won an award; it has been recognized on many previous occasions also.

There were fifty-four projects chosen from across 11 countries to compete for the coveted Prix d’ Excellence award 2010.

The award was received by the Director of Beary’s Group, Mr. Siddique Beary.

Indian Real Estate has once again a reason to rejoice.

Sunil Mantri Group Announces The Square

The textile capital of India Sholapur has a reason to rejoice. Sunil Mantri Group, a leading real estate development company with pan-India presence in association with Kumar Yashraj Group, a leading Sholapur-based developer, has announced its new project “The Square” with an aim to set new bench marks in the western zone.

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Photo by Alan Caldwell
The project will incorporate top of the line amenities, security and design aspects and is the first of its type in Sholapur that will encompass residential, commercial and retail real estate segments creating a unique neighborhood in the center of the city where residents of the city can relax, shop, and enjoy fine dining in a modern setting. The Square will be spread across 27,000 sq. meters.

The Square, a juxtaposition of Residential & Retail, constitutes  flats of 2 , 2.5 and 3 bedroom configuration and more than 180 shops, a major anchor retail outlet, and a hyper mart on a total area of 2,81,000 sq feet. Situated on the main road, it gives easy accessibility, luring consumers to the premises. The Square also introduces a modern food court with fine dine facilities and a shopping arcade for a totally relaxing environment to chill out in.

Mr. Sunil Mantri, Chairman, Sunil Mantri Group said on the occasion, “Tier II and Tier III cities in India have tremendous potential. We see great opportunity in smaller cities and we are confident about the success of our Sholapur project. At The Square, we look forward to making available premium lifestyle offerings in southern Maharashtra. Our experience has lead to a greater understanding of the demands of ultra-modern living and we are committed towards creating landmarks of exemplary design, comfort and quality that benchmark the highest standards of urban living.”

The plush arrangements for the club house and modern gymnasium, box cricket, children’s play area, swimming pool and landscape grounds studded across The Square creates a self-contained world of extravagance and indulgence for all its residents and offers them all the amenities and facilities of modern living within its premises.

The Square promises to be a combination wherein nature and urban living co-exist with modern and premium amenities in the center of the city.

Major Land Deals in India



Residential building
Since now days, land is the most promising resource, the developers are ready to pay any price just to get into the realty business.

Here are some of the major deals in the field of land:

1. The Lodha developers had a deal of Rs 4,053cr for a plot of 25,000 sq mts. The sq per mtr cost is about  Rs 81,818.
2. Next closest deal was by Sunteck India. It was a deal of Rs 3,465 crore. Following Sunteck was Indiabulls Real Estate at Rs 3,327 cr which was backed by Gaurhari Estate at Rs 2,251 cr.
3. In 2008, BPTP, a Delhi based builder had a deal of Rs. 5000 cr for a 95 acre plot in Noida. Unfortunately the deal could not get through.

Lodha Developers plan to launch a 650 million dollar IPO in the end of this year. Also, they plan to build a residential building worth Rs. 10,500 cr in the center of Mumbai.

Tata Housing Won Cityspace Award

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One of the leading real estate companies of India, Tata Housing was honored by the Best developer award in the category of CSR in the recognized award ceremony called Cityscape Awards – Real Estate Asia, 2010.

According to experts, when they analyzed the commitment and positive contribution of the company in the society welfare, it would be fully justified to call it one of the best developers in the Indian real estate market.

The award ceremony was originally organized to honor the real estate companies and industry professionals who have put their heart and soul into the realty and have done significant contributions in the growth of Indian realty. A panel of experts was the judge.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tata Housing, Brotin Banerjee, said that the company has the motive of delivering to the consumer what he wants. They firmly believe in ‘what you see is what you get’. And the Cityscape award is the evident of the contributions the company has made over the years to the society.

Survey on Realty Growth

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Analysis of the growth in real estate sector in last few years was performed. It revealed some very interesting statistics of the growth. The facts go like this:

In 2007, the office sector experienced highest demand. Grade A office space of about 32 million sq ft leased out in that year. But after that, it has been a decline throughout. In 2008, it reduced to 28 million and a further decrease to 21 million in 2009. However, now a growth back to 28-29 million is seen. Although it is less than what was in 2007, but still is complementary. This demand majorly comes from infrastructure companies, from Indian corporate who wish to merge, from pharmaceutical etc and it is at pace in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai.

After the office space, we move on to the residential sector, where once again these three cities are putting their landmarks. Even on the account of increasing prices, these cities have managed to go through a rise in demand. In cities like Mumbai where the pricing went through a downfall of around 25-30%, it has once again come back with the demand as well as pricing. However, the situation is not the same in the other regions of India as far as residential sector is concerned.

Next comes the retail sector. This sector has not seen much growth. Although the demand from some new Indian corporate, the existing retailers and many foreign retailers, this sector still seems to be gloomy for now.

DLF Plans to sell non-core assets for Raising Debt.


Kolkata Properties - Real Estate India - Surekha Sunrise Symphony
DLF
, India’s leading real estate developers, plan to raise an amount of Rs. 2700 cr. this financial year by selling non-core assets in order to reduce its debt of over Rs 16,421 cr. by about 33%.

The realty giant plans Rs. 5000 cr. to be cut from its debt. Out of these, Rs. 2700 cr. will be raised from sale of non-core assets and the left over from internal accruals. Last year, DLF could raise only Rs. 1800 cr. from sale of non-core assets while it planned for Rs. 5500 cr.

This fiscal, DLF has to compensate Rs 2,500-2,700 cr. in debt and also an interest of Rs. 1800 cr. Also, officials believe that this Divestment of non-core assets is not just a means to reduce debt but is a strategy to focus more on the core business operations.

Rs. 7,855 cr. was the overall revenue during financial year 2009-10 which is reduced by 25% as compared to Rs. 7,855 cr. in financial year 2008-09. The firm sold an area of 12.55 million sq ft across the world in the last fiscal.

Real Estate Suffers due to Regional Laws

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In past few years, the realty sector has shown tremendous growth but according to experts, it may still remain a regional play in the country. The underlying reason is that different regions have different laws.

JLLM,Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, a property consultant firm’s  Country Head and Managing Director Anuj Puri said that developers experience difficulties in having a pan-Indian presence due to the different procedure and different laws in every state for acquiring land, property taxation and approvals for projects.

Since there is a need of understanding local dynamics for developing realty projects, many developers take property sector as a regional business.

The problem for developers of having a pan-India presence cannot be helped until there is in land acquisition process and regulatory approvals are the belief of many consultants and developers.

Memorandum to Govt. from CREDAI to Take Off Service Tax

Ministère des Finances QuébecApril 14, 2010

A memorandum has been submitted to the Finance Ministry concerned with the appeal for removal of service tax on housing complexes under construction by CREDAI, Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India which is a real estate industry body.

The Chairman of CREDAI, Kumar Gera stated that they have put forth their concerns and suggestions and also discussed the probable impact of the provisions with the Ministry. An understanding of the problem and required corrective steps will be taken is a hope from the government. The list of recommendations was built in consultations with KPMG, its knowledge partner and was submitted to Y G Parande, a Finance Ministry Member (Budget).

According to Gera, the money collected through the imposition of service tax on real estate development will not be big enough; rather it would majorly lead an overall negative sentiment and a net loss of revenue.

In budget 2010, it was announced by Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, the Finance Minister that a tax would be imposed on the housing complexes under construction but later it was clarified by the officials that service tax would be imposed on 33 per cent of total selling price. This was interpreted by the real estate players as a 3.5% price escalation for the buyers.

According to CREDAI, it was an impractical proposal to levy service tax on construction of complex since would lead to government giving preference to the secondary market of completed projects.