Tag Archives: Knight Frank

Global capital markets director Harry Rogers joins Knight Frank India.

Posted on by

Shishir Baijal, Chairman of Knight Frank, emphasized the importance of Rogers’ appointment regarding the new hire when India’s real estate market is flourishing. 

Harry Chaplin Rogers has joined Knight Frank India as the director of International Capital Markets, the real estate consulting firm announced on Monday. It will be entrusted to Rogers to spearhead the company’s efforts to assist local and foreign clients in locating investment opportunities in the Indian real estate capital markets. According to a press release from the company, “He will play a critical role in connecting offshore capital requirements with the Indian real estate client base.” 

Rogers will work with clients from the beginning of the transaction, investigating different funding options up to the capital stack. According to the company, Knight Frank’s global capital markets network combines the strengths of Knight Frank and Berkadia, a top US capital advisory firm owned by Berkshire Hathaway and Jefferies. 

In response to his appointment, what did Harry Rogers say? 

Rogers praised India’s stable economy as a growth accelerator and described his appointment as an exciting opportunity. “Being one of the world’s most stable economies with consistently high growth rates, the Indian real estate market offers an exciting opportunity for domestic  and global funds.” A robust mid-to long-term economic outlook, coupled with recent growth in office, warehousing, logistics, and other core and non-core sectors, presents many reasons for global and domestic investors to support investments in India. “I am excited to be joining Knight Frank, a truly global business with an unmatched track record spanning more than a century,” he said. 

According to the company, Rogers’ responsibilities include transaction structuring for offshore investors and Indian investment managers. Frank is eager to gain from Rogers’ expertise in global markets, especially in London. Knight Frank stated, “Among his responsibilities were leading transactions involving residential and commercial assets, personally helping his company to transact on deals worth over $300 million in the last three years.”

Concerning the most recent addition, what did Knight Frank say?

Regarding the new hire, Knight Frank Chairman Shishir Baijal emphasized the importance of Rogers’ appointment during a period of expansion for the Indian real estate industry. “India’s economy is expanding at one of the fastest rates in the world, and by 2030, it will continue to rank third in terms of GDP. It is becoming increasingly known as a desirable place to invest for foreign and domestic investors because of its strong domestic demand, long-term economic stability, and extensive infrastructure development. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, investors are inclined to diversify their portfolios to mitigate risk. India presents a good chance in this situation because of its solid foundation. He remarked, “I am excited to work with Harry to demonstrate to international investors the possibilities of investing in India.

NCR Residential Market Hit by Delayed Projects

Posted on by
Delayed projects have hit the NCR residential market. Due to the delay of projects the home sales have dipped in the NCR.

NCR residential market is affected by construction delay.

NCR residential market is affected by construction delay.

DELHI-NCR: The prospective buyers are nailed by delay in projects. As per a recent report by Knight Frank states that new launches in the Delhi-NCR has fallen by 31%. It has adversely affected the NCR residential market.

As per the report, NCR residential market has nearly 1,40,000 unsold inventories. Out of this, over 27% is under construction.

As per the Knight Frank India report the 33,500 units were launched in the second half of 2012-13. This shows a fall of 31%. Global property consultant firm warns that the launches will see slowdown in the coming months too, affecting the largest residential market.

Developers are finding it really hard to complete the projects. The escalating prices of raw materials make construction costlier. This prompts the developers to invest more. Difficulty in finding sufficient fund is thus another reason for delayed projects. Continue reading →

JLL to Raise Rs.1200 Cr Commercial Realty Fund

Posted on by
Jones Lang LaSalle is planning to raise a new realty fund. The main focus of JLL’s Rs.1200 Cr realty fund will be commercial sector.

JLL plans to raise Rs.1200 Cr to invest in the commercial realty.

JLL plans to raise Rs.1200 Cr to invest in the commercial realty.

BANGALORE: Late last year Jones Lang LaSalle launched a private equity fund. The PE fund collected Rs.300 Cr. Now JLL is looking forward to raise another realty fund for investing in the commercial realty.

If JLL collected Rs.300 Cr for investing in the residential sector, the new fund, which is four times bigger than the first, will be invested in the commercial realty.

Rs.1200 Cr realty fund is expected to be launched by the 2013-end. Their first fund was invested in Bangalore. JLL invested the amount in two residential projects.

Though the new fund is expected to be invested in the commercial sector, details are not available. Sources with direct knowledge say that the decision is not yet taken as to whether the investment should be domestic or offshore.

While senior executives of JLL could not be contacted for comments, a person with direct knowledge commented that the investment will be in the commercial sector. He added that the real estate consultants are looking for higher returns from their investment and for this commercial realty is better now. Continue reading →

Housing shortage to hit India hard: Knight Frank

Posted on by
According to Knight Frank, India will have to face or witness severe housing shortage. One of the main drawbacks in the construction sector is funding.

Housing shortage will be one of the biggest problems India will have to deal with.

Housing shortage will be one of the biggest problems India will have to deal with.

Knight Frank India has published its latest research report entitled “Economy and Realty @ Glance.” In the global property consultant’s opinion the best way to meet the housing shortage is Real Estate Investment Trust.

The report concentrates mainly on the housing shortage which India faces now. According to the property consultants the best thing to meet the housing shortage is Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) model.

Knight Frank India suggests that the funding of real estate projects can be met with REIT effectively. Funding is one of the main problems which the developers are facing and it can be well tackled through REIT. Continue reading →

Property Prices Will Remain Stable; No Chance For A Fall

Posted on by
The situation seems impossible for the property prices, especially in the metro cities, to fall downward in near future or ever. Will there be a price correction, sooner or ever?

Property prices will remain stable despite no takers are around.

Property prices will remain stable; despite no takers are around.

The situation in India shows that there will not be a fall of property prices, especially in the metros like Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai or any other metros. Though everyone wishes a fall in the property prices, it is almost impossible to happen, neither in the near future nor in the longer- future.

Developers have taken loans from the banks and housing finance companies. Some of the builders have even taken loans from private equity firms which normally lend loans at 25 to 30 %. Still, builders are forced to cut down prices as many of the projects remain without any demand as buyers’ sentiment has been hurt by the sky rocketing property prices. Continue reading →

Bangalore Sees Lower Office Space Absorption as IT Demand Falls

Posted on by
Compared to 2011, the office space absorption has fallen in Bangalore. Experts opine that the situation was the result of weaker demand from the IT and ITeS sectors.

Office space absorption in Bangalore fell due to the lower demand from IT and ITeS sectors.

Office space absorption in Bangalore fell due to the lower demand from IT and ITeS sectors.

Real estate experts said that the office space absorption in Bangalore has been dropped as the IT (Information Technology) and ITeS (IT enabled Services) did not raise much demand. The reports show that the office space absorption has dropped by 24% last year.

Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate consultancy, reported that in 2012 nearly 7.3 million sq. ft. of office space was absorbed. This rate of absorption is very lower to the 9.59 million sq. ft. of 2011. If the IT and ITeS sectors had shared nearly three fourth of the total supply in 2011, in 2012 their absorption is just above two fourth of total supply. Continue reading →

Real Estate Trends And Consequences

Posted on by

An interactive discussion on Real Estate titled ‘Real Estate: Trends, Issues & Consequences’ was organized by Money life Foundation on May 5. The session was jointly conducted by industry experts like Pranay Vakil, Chairman of Knight Frank (India) Pvt Ltd and Pankaj Kapoor, MD, Liases Foras.

AAR's Staying Competitve Seminar
Photo by Phil SextonMr. Pranay Vakil said on the occasion, “One of the major reasons why the prices are high today is infrastructure. Nobody wants to travel long distances for work. Title insurance is another major issue in this industry.”

He added on being quizzed about the short recession, “Liquidity is vital. Developers realized this when sales volumes declined drastically due to the liquidity crunch. The slowdown gave customers ample choice as affordable housing came into the industry in a big way. Investors are ‘fair-weather friends’, Sell ‘ready’ products during a slowdown; contracts can be broken; healthy growth can be sustained by a gradual increase in prices; high-value transactions hyped by the media are not the ‘real’ market and the need is to innovate sales strategy.”

Mr. Kapoor said, “Are we heading towards another asset bubble? Are the prices affordable? What is wrong with the valuation and where is affordable housing? The government is responsible for hiking prices. We need a regulator for this industry to grow and curb wrong practices.”

The workshop witnessed enthusiastic participation from several investors, research analysts and industry experts in form of healthy exchange of ideas between them.

Ms Kavita Hurry, CEO, ING Vysya Mutual Fund asked the speakers to highlight three major issues in the sector.

On which Mr. Vakil said “Three most important things we need in real-estate as a priority are—rental housing, all over the world there is organized rental housing. Here you are left at the mercy of the broker who does not know anything. Secondly, infrastructure— the government cannot be a provider, it can be a facilitator. Thirdly, all these need funds, so get foreign parties excited about India.”

Mr. Kapoor said, “We need to address the congestion issue in the island city. If we move five buildings from the island city to Bandra, there will be a whole shift in the crowd. If we can shift Mantralaya, BSE or the Income-Tax office, there will be a difference. There are three-four magnets which draw the crowd there. Everyone knows about it but there is no intension to do that because they are sitting in luxurious places. We need to add more connectivity. We need a complete master plan for Mumbai to reduce the congestion. We need a regulator, and urban planning.”

Other industry experts also voiced their opinion.

The audience reached to a consensus which was that there is an immediate need for a citizen action forum to make higher authorities listen.

quences

‘Real Investment’-The Book For Real Estate

Posted on by

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”.