While there is no denying that quality social infrastructure projects like Golf Club have been the USP of India’s luxury landscape in Gurgaon, yet such projects have often fallen into the no man’s land in terms of its ownership issues and challenges to create.
Nearly all the developers in the Indian real estate are chasing the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) but very few have succeeded in attracting the investment of expat Indians. Reason: They have tried to hard sell the properties without actually understanding what these fellow Indians living abroad want.
The Google search of Ratan Pandit, a prospective homebuyer, for Noida Extension market completely confused him. With various conflicting reports where one of the property consultancy firms endorsing the market as future investment magnet and the other one advising to stay away due to over-supply in this market, this homebuyer could not reach to any conclusion. Even various property listing sites were of not much use in terms of the understanding of the given market.
The real estate markets across the major cities is today witness to a new spate of consumer activism which is more political in its functioning than consumer centric. Worse even, many of them even operate as the de facto consumer courts in advising others in how they should take on the builders.
Some call it market intelligence and not due diligence where the focus should be more on the micro markets than general trends which could be misleading. However, there are many grey areas where in the absence of proper research and reliable data even the assessment of ground realities is not feasible.
The real estate sector is in dire need to communicate an connect with the stakeholders and society at large. In the name of communication all that they do is to hire a PR (Public Relations) agency for the purpose of brand building but do not understand what is communication in the right context.
Beyond the economic rationale, the developers assert that they are doing their homework properly. One of the largest developers claims it has its own empanelled brokers to give constant feedback on the market before the launch of any new project. They supplement it with a proper in-house research of the market, the catchment area, competition and other market forces.
The fact of the matter is that in the absence of any regulation that defines the standard measurement of super built-up area, built-up area and carpet area, every developer defines it as per his convenience. There is no scientific methodology that defines what is an ideal loading percentage.
Swadeep Sharma was on a house hunt in Noida for the last two years. Last year he could find a house of choice at one of the newly delivered projects in Noida Expressway at INR 5600 per sq feet. He could, however, not manage his finances then. Now that he has managed his finances, he went to the same location anticipating shelling out more money. He was, however, taken by surprise. The apartment in the same society is today available at INR 4800 per sq feet.
It is the lack of proper disclosure that often results in litigations. Across the world, disclosure laws vary from state to state, even down to the city and local governance level. Though disclosure norms are very poor in India, the developers who conceal relevant information about the housing project can still be taken to courts for failure to disclose.