Track2Realty: As consumers continued to face inflation and high interest rates in April, average household spending seemed unlikely to recover in the near term. Subdued market sentiments looked likely to continue unless consumer confidence began to rise.
Track2Realty: Over the past year, Mumbai continued to remain a preferred city for both domestic and foreign brands keen to open their first outlets or expand their presence across India. The city’s favorable demographics, along with the availability of investment-grade retail space, led to strong demand from retailers for shopping space.
Track2Realty Exclusive: A report released by BNP Paribas earlier this year on realty firms found that each of them performed poorly on one or more of the parameters. Some of the assessment parameters include compensation structure, ability to retain key personnel, financial stability, pending litigation and trading in own stock.
Track2Realty Exclusive: With a vision to make India a housing surplus nation from being the housing shortage country, CREDAI has been campaigning to make the business environment congenial for growth. But the realty bill, in its current form and shape, stifles the honest developer and scares away new entrepreneurs from entering the sector.
Track2Realty: A burgeoning automobile ancillary industry and the IT/ITeS sector’s growing presence have been the major growth drivers behind the notable transformation of Maharashtra’s second largest city—Pune. Over the past couple of years, the city’s IT sector in particular has seen significant growth, leading to sustained demand for office space in the city.
Track2Realty Exclusive: 2014 is the year when, to some extent, not only the real estate market but the economy as a whole will have the impact of being in an election year. This is because real estate gets affected as approvals get delayed during this time. A couple of months before even the State elections, slowdown in deals happens on which new approvals are pending.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The Tamil Nadu Government must be commended for its focus on infrastructure development; it is a key determinant of the state’s economic progress. So long as the commitment to infrastructure remains, the prognosis for real estate will be good.
Track2Realty: Employment opportunities to the tune of approximately four to five lakh are expected to be generated within the next two years across the country’s leading cities. In case India’s economic growth accerelates to above 6% in 2015, more such opportunities may be expected.
Track2Realty: Transactions in India’s real estate space might have slowed down over the last two quarters, but the sector has not been overwhelmed by the state of the wider economy. Despite the subdued pre-election economic scenario, in fact, the period observed an increase in private equity activity.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The current economic environment is indeed one of the most challenging in recent history. The headwinds of inflation, interest rates, construction costs, and subdued consumer demand have constrained real-estate growth in many micro-markets across the country. Economic volatility aside, I am optimistic about long-term real-estate sector prospects. My optimism is founded in irrefutable realities – the rapid urbanization of India, burgeoning segment of upwardly mobile Indians, limited availability of urban residential housing and unabated aspiration of home ownership.